Beef is not just Food in India

Words by Sayantani Upadhaya

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Beef is not just Food in India

Credit: Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP file

On a departing summer evening of 28 September 2015, Mohammed Akhlaq (52) was beaten to death at his home in Bisahda near Dadri of Uttar Pradesh by a Hindu mob, piqued by rumours that he and his family had slaughtered a cow and was eating beef. Akhlaq and his son, Danish, were attacked with sticks, knives, and bricks by fellow villagers they have shared life with for years. What followed is an unprecedented amount of support, not for Akhlaq’s family, but for the perpetrators. Bajrang Dal; a militant Hindu organization provided legal help, while the court orders to file an FIR (First Information Report) on Akhlaq on the basis of prima facie evidence of meat found in his house which probably can be beef. The government sent a Forensic Team to collect the sample of meat, while Balraj Dungar, a Bajrang Dal spokesperson, threatened the government with “another 1857” if a complete ban on beef is not imposed.