A municipal corporator here handed over his cow to the police on Tuesday saying he feared attacks by cow vigilantes.
Abdul Ghaffar, a corporator from ward no 73, gave a written declaration and left his cow at the Nauchandi police station.
Mr. Ghaffar told The Hindu that the recent incidents of violence by cow vigilantes against members of the minority community were “scary”.
“I had been taking care of this cow since her childhood. But given the increase in violent attacks, it was getting difficult for me to continue keeping her in my house,” he said.
“This cow is my pet but people from a particular group and cow vigilantes say that Muslims cannot keep cows as pets. They have spread fear in the minds of people that it is no longer safe for a Muslim like me to keep a cow,” he pointed out.
He said there was a possibility that the cow could have been harmed while she was in his house just to “unleash violence.”
“I love my pet cow. But in this atmosphere she could be used against me. If someone harms the cow, just imagine what all could happen,” Mr. Ghaffar said.
His move came after members of Hindutva groups harassed Manu Singh Rana from Shashtri Nagar area of the city after he sold his cow to Anas from Zakir Colony in Meerut. Workers of the BJP caught hold of Anas with the cow and took him to the police station. They called Rana to the station where he was forced to return the money and swear that he would “never sell his cows to a Muslim.”
