Some X users have tagged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and Nashik Police drawing their attention towards the attack.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A gang of cow vigilantes chased a vehicle, turned it over through collision and brutally assault a Muslim driver in Malegaon in Maharashtra on Sunday.
Hindutva Watch, a research group which monitors hate crimes in the country, posted a video of the incident through its X handle on Tuesday.
“Cow vigilantes affiliated with Neha Patel led Pranin Foundation brutally assaulted a Muslim driver over allegations of transporting beef,” posted the group on X.
The video shows a vigilante interrogating a severely bruised and battered man. The vigilante asked him several questions about his identity. The victim replied that he was coming from Jalgaon. Then, the vigilante informs his viewers that they have a caught a vehicle at the Malegaon Road transporting beef. The vigilante also said that they have done these activities with the help of Neha Patel and Sanjay Sharma.
According to a report published by the Hindutva Watch on its website, Patel is one of the few women cow vigilantes with an extensive network of militia recruits at her disposal to police the sale, transportation, or consumption of beef, with Muslim minorities being the primary target of her operations.
Her organisation, Pranian Foundation, established in 2009 in Karjan, Gujarat, operates as a registered non-profit entity. After obtaining her Master’s degree in Business from Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, Australia in 2010, she returned to India and officially registered Pranian Foundation in 2014. The foundation’s stated mission encompasses “cow protection, tribal welfare, propagating Hinduism, and teaching self-defense.”
The video also shows the vigilantes assaulting the driver after chasing and turning down the vehicle of the cattle trader. The mob also hurls abuses at him.
Reacting to the video, social media activist Md Asif Khan said “Videos of mob violence are surfacing every day on social media. Hindutva goons are attacking truck drivers across the country. Now people don’t even give attention to these violent attacks because Muslims’ lives don’t matter in India”.
Some X users have also tagged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and Nashik police drawing their attention towards the attack.
Several such incidents have come to light, lately. Hindutva Watch has been bringing out such incident almost on a daily basis. It also posted a video of cow vigilantes attacking cattle traders in Haryana.
The video shows cow vigilantes thrashing a driver after accusing him of cow theft. The video also shows that the vigilantes are talking about shooting the driver.