The Telegraph today reported on the cow-centric drama which recently unfolded in Bishunpur Arara village in Bihar.
On Friday night, a "die hard supporter" of Lalu Prasad Yadav put into action the veteran politician's suggestion to tie old cows that do not give milk in front of the houses of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders.
This prompted Chandeshwar Kumar Bharti, a local BJP leader from Vaishali district, to file a case at the Hajipur civil court against Yadav as well as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) youth vice-president Vidya Kumari Rai and her husband Devendra Rai, who had tied a cow in front of his house on Friday. "I'm a diehard supporter of Lalu Prasad and simply followed his instructions," Devendra toldThe Telegraph. "BJP leaders should take care of cows that don't give milk... If they (BJP leaders) refuse to accept these cows, we'll force them to."
Bharti told the newspaper the RJD workers allegedly thrashed him, threatened harm if he freed the cow and that they also snatched ₹2,000 from him. "I was so frightened that the next morning I lodged a complaint in the local court," he said.
Responding to the spurt of cow vigilantism, Yadav on Thursday said, "Just tie your old cows, which have stopped giving milk, at RSS and BJP workers' (homes). Whenever you see stray cows, leave them at their houses and see how they react and what they do with them."
"Watch what they do with the cattle. It is possible that they may beat you but do not get scared. Tie the cows at their doors," the RJD chief told party workers.
Bharti is reportedly seeking action under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 379 (theft).
Meanwhile, Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai has said that people who want to hand over their old cows should approach him with an undertaking that the donation is being made voluntarily, and only then would the animals be distributed among the party workers, The Telegraph further reported. "Else, we won't accept the cows because these people might later accuse us of forcibly grabbing the cows," Rai said.
The cow in question is reportedly MIA.
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