People first, not cows, says Sachin Pilot

The Madhya Pradesh government could have “done better” by prioritising heinous crimes over the “cow issue,” Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said on Sunday.

He said that in Rajasthan, the government would react differently to the case of “illegal transportation” and slaughter of cows, in which men have been charged under the National Security Act.

“My personal opinion is that we must first make stringent laws for people committing rape, acts of inhumanity against each other, strict laws to prevent people who attack the dignity of fellow human beings,” Mr. Pilot said at The Hindu Huddle Conclave.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has come in for criticism over two cases, charging five men in all under the NSA, most notably from senior Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and Salman Khursheed.

“It is fine to protect animals that are sacred and I believe in that too, but I think we could have done a better job by prioritising those issues first and then taken on the cow issue. I think that for Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kamal Nath is the best person to decide on the issue, but for Rajasthan, this is what I feel,” Mr. Pilot said.