A group of BJP activists beat up four persons, tied up their hands and paraded them forcibly, making them hold their ears in full public view, in Durgapur on Thursday for transporting 20 “smuggled” cows in a mini-truck.
The persecuted men, all Muslims, were also accused of being Bangladeshis, despite being citizens of India and residents of nearby Jemua, and furnishing the documents to back their claims.
The odious scene of bovine vigilantism, which was reminiscent of the Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan brand of saffron politics that pluralist, inclusive Bengal usually squirms at, was enacted barely 165km from Calcutta.
The barbaric act took place barely 200 metres from the local police station.
Bengal police said in a post on X that two persons were arrested in connection with
the incident.
The BJP workers forcefully released the cows, all duly purchased from a weekly cattle market in Bankura’s Hatashuria village, despite the cow traders showing them valid documents. They also allegedly snatched the documents and cash from the traders.
The vigilantes alleged that the cows were being smuggled in connivance with the police and the Trinamool Congress. The incident took place in the Gammon area of the Coke Oven police station’s jurisdiction.
“We got information that some people were trafficking smuggled cows in a mini-truck and immediately rushed to the spot to stop them. We found 20 cows in the mini-truck. We will not allow cattle rustling here. We called the police, but they did not arrive,” claimed Parijat Ganguly, the local BJP leader who proudly oversaw the communal persecution.
The outrageous incident came to light after a video clip of the torture surfaced on social media, prompting Trinamool leaders to launch a protest. They lodged a police complaint against Ganguly and his associates.
Trinamool said the cow vigilantism was yet another endorsement of the saffron regime’s “Bengali-phobia” and condemnable politics of polarisation that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been trying to build a movement against.
The cow traders said they are residents of Jemua village near Durgapur in the Pandabeswar Assembly constituency.
Sheikh Jahirul, one of the traders, said: “We are not Bangladeshis. We live in Jemua of Durgapur, and are very much local voters. We were returning home from Hatashuria after purchasing cows legally. We furnished all documents, but they claimed all were forged and started torturing us, as we are Muslims. They accused us of being Bangladeshi infiltrators.”
Trinamool’s West Burdwan unit chief and Pandabeswar MLA Narendranath Chakraborty said he had immediately rushed to the village, spoken to the terrified cow traders and assured them of stern action against the culprits. He later went to the Coke Oven police station and lodged a complaint against Ganguly and his accomplices.
“I am shocked. This is not Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, or Bihar... This is our Bengal, where such prejudice, such discrimination has been taboo for ages. Where Mamata Banerjee is still the chief minister. Here, we will not tolerate such sub-human barbarity, such primitive hooliganism,” said Chakraborty.
“I have given the police an ultimatum to arrest the goons within 24 hours,” he added.
However, the MLA did not have the most direct answer when asked why the police had not arrived to save the cow traders from this assault, despite being barely 200metres away.
“We will again come to the police station and demonstrate if the culprits are not arrested within our deadline,” he said.
The police said they had started a specific case on the basis of the complaint and launched an investigation.
“We are probing the matter. Investigation is underway,” said Subir Roy, an assistant commissioner of the Durgapur commissionerate.
Told of the police complaint, Ganguly claimed that he had done nothing wrong.
“I am ready to court arrest, but will not allow anyone to smuggle cows here. Those who were smuggling the cows are Bangladeshi jihadis, and the police and the Trinamool Congress support the smuggling,” claimed Ganguly.
He did, however, deny having beaten anyone up or having money or documents snatched from the traders.
“Local people who worship cows as the holy mother may have assaulted them out of anger. We simply stopped the smuggling and wanted to hand the Bangladeshi jihadi smugglers over to the police, but they did not arrive as they’re in cahoots. We rescued and released the cows,” added Ganguly.
Sources in the Bengal unit of the BJP admitted the inappropriateness of the incident at a time when the party was going out of its way to convince the Bengal electorate that it did not represent the hardline Hindutva vision of the Sangh parivar.
“Such stories are best averted in the next few months. Whoever this Parijat fellow is, he will be given a dressing down from 6 Muralidhar Sen Lane,” said a source.