NEW DELHI // A village mob in northern India beat one Muslim to death with sticks and injured four others who were accused of smuggling cows to be slaughtered for beef, police said on Friday. The survivors were arrested for alleged animal cruelty.
Police officer Somya Sambhasivam said a search was on for villagers who fled after the attack on Wednesday in Sarahan, a village in Himachal Pradesh state, about 260 kilometres north of New Delhi.
It was the second fatal mob attack on Muslims over the slaughter and consumption of cows after a Muslim man was lynched in Uttar Pradesh state last month over false rumours that his family had eaten beef for dinner.
Ms Sambhasivam said the mob chased the truck loaded with five cows and 10 bulls and attacked the five occupants of the vehicle.
The five hid in the forest until police found them and took them to the hospital, where one of them died, she said.
She said police arrested the four survivors for alleged cruelty to the animals, causing injuries to them during transportation in the truck.
Police are investigating whether the assailants belonged to a Hindu hardline group.
Cows are considered holy by many, but not all, Hindus, who form the majority of India’s population. Beef is eaten by Muslims and Christians, as well as many lower-caste Hindus, though some Indian states ban the slaughter of cows.
Although the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi has long campaigned for a complete ban on cow slaughter, India has emerged as the world’s largest exporter of beef. The trade is mostly run by Muslims.
In comments that could further inflame social divisions, the chief minister of Haryana’s BJP-ruled government has urged the Muslims to stop eating beef out of respect for the sentiments of Hindus.
"In this country, they will have to give up eating beef," Manohar Lal Khattar told the Indian Express newspaper.
“They can be Muslim even after they stop eating beef, can’t they? It is written nowhere that Muslims have to eat beef, nor is it written anywhere in Christianity that they have to eat beef.”
Referring to the killing in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Khattar said it was wrong, but attributed it to a “misunderstanding” caused by “loose” comments about cows.
The lynching drew widespread condemnation. More than 20 writers have returned awards in the past two weeks, saying India’s secular fabric was under attack from Mr Modi’s hardline supporters.
Mr Modi called the lynching “sad” and “unwelcome” in his first response this week, after weeks of silence. But critics say his decision to remain silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim has only emboldened his supporters.
Political opponents have accused Modi’s party of looking to create religious tension ahead of a crucial electoral test this month in the northern state of Bihar.
Tougher measures to safeguard cows are often used as a rallying call by politicians seeking to win Hindu votes, sometimes leading to Hindu-Muslim riots.
Modi’s government has clamped down on the illegal trade of cattle with Muslim-majority neighbour Bangladesh, and two states ruled by his party have tightened laws to protect cows.
* Associated Press
