Parth M.N.

Vishaka George

Editor

Sarbajaya Bhattacharya

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Balasaheb Londhe never imagined a decision he made over 20 years ago would come back to haunt him today. Born to a family of marginal farmers in the small town of Fursungi in Maharashtra’s Pune district, Londhe started working in his farmland, where they mainly grew cotton, fairly early in his life. When he turned 18, he decided to double up as a driver for some extra income. “A friend put me in touch with a Muslim family that ran a business of transporting livestock,” the 48-year-old says. “They needed drivers, so I signed up for it.”Londhe was an enterprising young man who studied the business meticulously. After about a decade, Londhe felt like he had learnt and saved enough.“I bought a second-hand truck for Rs. 8 lakh, and still had a capital of Rs. 2 lakh,” he says. “In 10 years, I had made contacts with farmers and traders in the market.”Londhe’s enterprise paid off. It was his business that bailed him out when his five-acre farmland incurred losses due to falling crop prices, inflation and climate change. The task was straightforward: pick up cattle from farmers who wanted to sell them at weekly bazaars in the village and sell it with commission to either a slaughterhouse or another set of farmers who wanted to procure livestock. In 2014, about a decade into his business, he bought a second truck to expand his trade. After factoring in the cost of petrol, vehicle maintenance expenses and the driver’s salary, Londhe says his average monthly income hovered at around Rs. 1 lakh at that time. It didn’t matter that he was among the few Hindus to be in a trade dominated by the Muslim Qureshi community. “They were generous with their contacts and tips,” he says. “I thought I was set.”

But in 2014, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)
came to power, and cow vigilantism began to intensify. Cow vigilante violence is mob-based brutality
observed in India. It involves attacks carried out by Hindu nationalists
targeting non-Hindus, primarily Muslims, in the name of protecting cows – an
animal which holds sacred status in Hinduism.

In 2019, Human Rights Watch, a New
York-based rights group, found that between May 2015 and December 2018, more
than 100 <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/24/indian-politician-boasts-about-getting-muslims-killed-on-camera">beef-related attacks</a> took place in India, in which 280 people were injured and 44 died
– an overwhelming majority of them Muslims.

In 2017, IndiaSpend, a data
website, released a report that analysed cow-related lynchings since 2010. It
found that 86 percent of the people killed in such cases were Muslims, while 97
percent of attacks transpired after Modi came to power. The website has since
taken down its tracker.

Londhe says such
violence, which includes threatening people with their lives, has only
increased in the last three years. For a man who once
earned Rs. 1 lakh a month, Londhe’s losses have amounted to Rs. 30 lakhs in the last
three years. He also feels physically unsafe
and fears for his drivers. 

“It is a nightmare,” he
says.

On September 21, 2023, two of
Londhe’s trucks carrying 16 buffaloes each were on their way to a market in
Pune when the cow vigilantes or ‘gau rakshaks’ intercepted them near the small town of Katraj – about half an hour
away.  

Maharashtra has had a cow
slaughter ban since 1976. But in 2015, the
then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis <a href="https://lj.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Acts/H%2062-2016.pdf">extended</a> it to bulls
and oxens. The buffaloes, which Londhe’s truck carried, are not covered under
the ban. 

“Yet, both the drivers were
manhandled, slapped and abused,” says Londhe. “One was a Hindu, the other was
Muslim. I had all the permits required by law. But my trucks were still
confiscated and taken to the police station.”

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The Pune city police filed a
complaint against Londhe and his two drivers under the <a href="https://dahd.nic.in/sites/default/filess/The%20Prevention%20of%20Cruelty%20to%20Animals%20Act%2C%201960.pdf">Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act, 1960</a>, claiming the cattle were cramped
in a small space without fodder and water. “The cow vigilantes are aggressive
and the police never push back,” says Londhe. “This is just a harassment
tactic.”

Londhe’s cattle were transferred
to a cow shed in Pune’s Dhamane village in Mawal taluka, and he was compelled to take the legal route. Nearly Rs.
6.5 lakh were at stake. He ran from pillar to post and even consulted a good
lawyer.

Two months later, on November 24,
2023, the sessions court of Pune in Shivaji Nagar, delivered its verdict.
Londhe heaved a sigh of relief when the judge ordered the cow vigilantes to
return his livestock. The police station was tasked with the responsibility of
executing the order. 

Unfortunately for Londhe, the
relief was short lived. While
it’s been five
months since the favourable court order, he is yet to get back his livestock. 

“Two days after the court order, I
got my trucks back from the police,” he says. “With no trucks, I couldn’t get
any work at all during that period. But what happened after was even more
frustrating.”

&quot;After the court order, I got my trucks back, but then came the
frustrating part,&quot; Londhe recalls. He went to the Sant Tukaram Maharaj
Goshala to retrieve his cattle, only to be told to come back the next day by
Rupesh Garade, the cowshed in-charge. 

What followed were multiple excuses made over
different days – Garade cited the unavailability of a doctor who needed to run
tests on the animals before their release. Days later, the man-in-charge
procured a stay order from a higher court – invalidating the session&#39;s court
verdict. It was becoming clear that, Londhe says, Garade was buying time to not
return the animals.  “But the police just
said okay to everything he came up with. It was ridiculous.”

Interactions with the Qureshi
community in and around Pune reveal this isn’t an anomaly but the modus operandi of cow vigilantes. Multiple traders have
experienced similar losses.  While vigilantes
argue they withhold cattle out of concern, the Qureshi community remains
sceptical.

“If these cow vigilantes are so
worried about cattle, then why aren’t farmers targeted?” asks Sameer Qureshi,
52, a trader in Pune. “They are the ones selling it. We only carry it from one
place to another. The real reason is to
hound Muslims.”

In August 2023, Sameer had a
similar experience when his truck was intercepted. After a
month, he went to the cowshed in the village of Zendewadi in Purandhar taluka with a favourable court order to
retrieve his vehicle. 

“But when I reached the location,
I couldn’t see any of my livestock,” Sameer says. “I had five buffaloes and 11
calves worth Rs. 1.6 lakh.”

For seven hours between 4-11 p.m., Sameer waited patiently for someone to show up and
explain his missing livestock. Eventually, the police officer pressed him to
return the following day. “The police are scared to ask them questions,” Sameer
says. “By the time I returned the next day, the cow vigilantes had a stay order
ready.”

Sameer has given up on fighting
the court case because he fears he will end up spending more money than what the livestock is worth, the mental stress
notwithstanding. “But I want to know what they do with the livestock after they
confiscate it from us?” he asks. “Where were my animals? I am not the only one
who has observed this. Many of my colleagues have seen their livestock disappear
after the cow vigilantes confiscate it. Are they selling them again? Is this a racket being run?”

On odd occasions when the cow
vigilantes end up releasing the livestock, traders say, they end up asking for
compensation for looking after the animals for the duration of the court case.
Shahnawaz Qureshi, 28, another trader in Pune, says the cow vigilantes ask for
Rs. 50 a day for each animal. “That means, if they look after 15 animals for a
couple of months, we will have to pay Rs. 45,000 to retrieve them,” he says.
“We have been in this business for years. That is an absurd amount and nothing
short of extortion.”

In the small town of Saswad in Pune district, 14-year-old Sumit Gawde witnessed the roughing up of a truck driver carrying livestock. This was in
2014. 

“I remember being thrilled,” says
Gawde. “I thought I should [also] do that.”

The belt of western Maharashtra in which Pune district falls is where <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/on-the-trail-of-sambhaji-bhide-ahead-of-bhima-koregaon-riots-3rd-anniversary-tracing-the-hindutva-leaders-rise-9143711.html">Sambhaji Bhide</a>, an 88-year old radical Hindu nationalist, is extremely popular.
He has a history of brainwashing young boys, and misusing the legacy of
Shivaji, an erstwhile warrior king, to further anti-Muslim rhetoric. 

“I attended his speeches where he
spoke about how Shivaji defeated the Mughals, who were Muslims,” says Gawde.
“He educated people about Hindu religion and the need to protect ourselves.”

For an impressionable 14-year-old,
Bhide’s speeches energised him.  Observing cow vigilantism up close was exciting, Gawde says. He
got in touch with Pandit Modak, a leader of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, the organisation
founded by Bhide.

Based in Saswad, Modak is a
prominent Hindu nationalist leader in Pune, and is currently closely associated
with the BJP. Cow vigilantes
in and around Saswad report to Modak. 

Gawde has been working for Modak
for a decade now and is fully committed to the cause. “Our vigil starts at 10:30 in the night and goes on till four in the morning,” he
says. “We stop the truck if we think something is fishy. We interrogate the
driver and take him to the police station. The police are always cooperative.”

Gawde’s day job is in
construction, but ever since he has become a “gau rakshak”, he says the people around him have begun to treat him
with respect. “I don’t do it for the money,” he clarifies. “We put our life on
the line and Hindus around us acknowledge that.”

There are about 150 cow vigilantes
only in one taluka of Purandhar,
where the village of Saswad falls,
says Gawde. “Our people are connected in all the villages,” he says. “They may
not be able to participate in the vigil, but they contribute with a tip
whenever they see a suspicious truck.”

Cows are central to the rural economy. For
decades, farmers have used the animals as insurance – they traded their
livestock to raise instant capital for weddings, medicines or an upcoming
cropping season. 

But the vast web of cow vigilante
groups has completely destroyed that. With each passing year, their activities
get more intense, their strength grows in numbers. Currently, besides Shiv
Pratishthan Hindustan, there are at least four more Hindu nationalist groups –
Bajrang Dal, Hindu Rashtra Sena, Samasta Hindu Aghadi and
Hoy Hindu Sena – all with a history of bloody
violence – active in just Pune district. 

“The activists on ground all work
for each other,” says Gawde. “The structure is fluid. We help each other out
because our objective is the same.”

In just Purandhar, Gawde says that
cow vigilantes intercept about five trucks a month. Members of these different
groups are active in at least seven talukas
of Pune. That is 35 trucks a month, or 400 a year.

The math checks out. 

<a></a>Senior members of the Qureshi community in Pune estimate that
about 400-450 of their vehicles have been confiscated in 2023 – each carrying
livestock worth at least Rs. 2 lakh. Even at a conservative estimate, the cow
vigilantes have caused a loss of Rs. 8 crore in just one of the 36 districts of
Maharashtra, compelling the Qureshi community to consider abandoning their
livelihoods.   

“We never take law into our own
hands,” Gawde claims. “We always follow the rule book.”

The truck drivers subjected to the wrath of
such vigilantism, however, will tell you otherwise.

In early 2023, Shabbir Maulani’s
truck with 25 buffaloes was intercepted by cow vigilantes in Saswad. He still
remembers that night with dread. 

“I thought I would be lynched that
night,” says Maulani, 43, resident of Bhadale village in Satara district –
about two hours north of Pune. “I was abused and beaten up badly. I tried
telling them I am just a driver, but it didn’t matter.”

An injured Maulani was taken to
the police station, where he was charged under the Animal Cruelty Act. The
people that beat him up faced no consequences. “The cow vigilantes even looted
Rs. 20,000 cash from my truck,” he says. “I tried explaining it to the police.
Initially, they heard me out. But then Pandit
Modak arrived in his car and the police were completely under his spell.”

Maulani, who earns Rs. 15,000 a
month, was able to retrieve his employer’s truck a month later, but the
livestock is still with cow vigilantes. “If we have done something illegal, let
the police punish us,” he says. “What right do they have to beat us up in the
streets?”

Every time Maulani leaves his
home, his wife Sameena, 40, is unable to sleep. She keeps calling him every
half an hour to ensure he is alive. “You can’t blame her,” he says. “I want to
quit this job, but this is what I have done my
entire life. I have two children and an ailing
mother. I need money to run the household.”

Sarfaraz Sayyad, an advocate based
in Satara, who has handled several cases like Maulani’s, says the cow
vigilantes regularly loot cash from the trucks they intercept and mercilessly
beat up the drivers. “But none of it ever makes it to an FIR,” he says.
“Transporting cattle is an age-old business, and
the markets in our western Maharashtra region
are well known. It isn’t difficult for them to track and harass drivers because
they all take the same highway.”

Londhe says it has been
increasingly difficult to find drivers to employ. “Many have preferred to go
back to labour work even when the pay is much less and infrequent,” he says.
“Driving a truck with cattle is like risking your life. It is too stressful.
This gunda-raj has destroyed the
rural economy.”

Today, farmers are
paid less for their livestock, he says. Traders are
losing money, and a
lack of drivers is weighing down an already
overwhelmed labour market. 

“The only people who
have flourished are those disrupting law and
order.”

In Pune: waiting for the cows to come home

گئو رکشکوں کی دہشت سے تباہ ہوتی دیہی معیشت

மாடுகள் திரும்பி வருவதற்கான காத்திருப்பு

ਗਊ-ਰੱਖਿਅਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਦਹਿਸ਼ਤ ਦੀ ਬਲ਼ੀ ਚੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਹੋਇਆ ਪੇਂਡੂ ਅਰਥਚਾਰਾ

ପୁନେ: ଗାଈମାନଙ୍କ ଘରବାହୁଡ଼ାକୁ ଅପେକ୍ଷା

പുനെയിൽ: ഗോക്കൾ തിരിച്ചെത്തുന്നതും കാത്ത്

ಪುಣೆ: ದನಗಳ ದಾರಿ ಕಾಯುತ್ತಾ…

गौरक्षकों के आतंक से नष्ट होती ग्रामीण अर्थव्यवस्था

પૂણેની ગાય દોરે ત્યાં જાય

‘गुंडा राज ह गाँव-देहात के अर्थव्यवस्था ला बरबाद कर दे हवय’

पुणा में गाय आपन घर लउटे के इंतजारी ताकत बा

ঘরে ফিরবে কখন গরুর পাল…

গোহালিৰ গৰু আৰু গো-ৰক্ষকৰ আতংক: গ্ৰাম্য অৰ্থনীতিত প্ৰহাৰ

गाईच्या नावानं...

Purandhar, Pune District, Maharashtra, 412213, India

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In Pune: waiting for the cows to come home

Since 2014, cow vigilantism has seen a sharp rise in various parts of India. Given how integral cows are to the rural economy, attacks on cattle truck drivers have had a crushing effect on farmers and traders. PARI reports on such incidents from Maharashtra’s Pune and Satara districts

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