1966 anti-cow slaughter riot

This article is part of a series about Indira Gandhi
Prime Minister of India 1966–1977 1980–1984 Early life and education Public image Family Eponyms International trips Domestic Policy Economic Policy Foreign Policy Assassination Premiership General elections 1967 1971 1977 1980 Union Council of Ministers First Second Third Lok Sabha Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh National policy Legislation COFEPOSA Enemy Property Act, 1968 The Gold (Control) Act, 1968 IMDT MISA NPE North-Eastern Reorganisation Act Privy Purse Treaties and accords Delhi Agreement Indira–Sheikh Accord Shimla Agreement Sirima–Gandhi Pact Missions and projects Operation Blue Star Operation Flood Operation Lal Dora Operation Steeplechase Operation Sundown 1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum Samjhauta Express Smiling Buddha Controversies Emergency Baroda dynamite case State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain Turkman gate Riots and attacks 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation 1974 railway strike in India 1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum 1980 Moradabad riots Insurgency in Punjab Airbus hijacking Constitutional amendments Twentieth Twenty-first Twenty-second Twenty-third Twenty-fourth Twenty-fifth Twenty-sixth Thirty-eighth Thirty-ninth Forty-first Forty-second Forty-fifth Forty-seventh Forty-eighth Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video
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On 7 November 1966, a group of Hindu protestors, led by ascetics, naga sadhus and backed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (aka Jan Sangh), approached the Indian Parliament to protest to criminalize cow slaughter.^[1] The incident resulted in a riot which ended with a death toll of 7 people and hundreds were injured.^[2][3] The total damage was estimated at about 1 billion rupees by city officials; numerous vehicles were destroyed, along with numerous shops.^[4][5]

The episode was the culmination of a long-term movement by the Hindu Right to protect the cow, a traditional symbol of reverence in Hindu society. A meeting in late 1965 involving lobbying groups, naga sadhus and many religious dharma acharyas and influential Hindu religious orders initiated a year-long program of demonstrations and picketing, culminating in the planned march to the Parliament. Jan Sangh was a participant in the march. The march attracted hundreds of thousands of people for that march outside the parliament. Political figures including Bhupesh Gupta suspected clear-cut involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).^[6]

The protest was targeting the key leaders of then government. The police responded with tear gas and cane clubs, but their resistance proved futile.^[7] As waves of demonstrators armed with tridents attacked the police and pelted them with stones, a policeman was stoned to death. Police were slow to respond,^[5] but at around 1:30 pm, they engaged in rifle fire and mounted a charge with lead-tipped clubs.^[7] While the charge was successful in dispersing the immediate mob, it caused fatal injuries, and having failed to succeed in breaching the Parliament gates, the mob merely scattered to attack other less-protected areas of Delhi.^{[8][7][5][9][10]} Houses of prominent legislators from the ruling party (Indian National Congress), including that of K. Kamaraj, were broken into.^[2][11] Passengers were forced out of vehicles before being set on fire, high-profile government buildings were ransacked, and random arson was indulged in.^[7][12]

Two weeks later, influential saints began their hunger strikes in protest; however, fissures in the front began to appear, and Gandhi chose to incorporate a Parliamentary Committee to analyze the feasibility of imposing a ban on cow slaughter. The front was consistently outvoted, the nominees eventually resigned, the committee never produced a report, and the politicians successfully shifted the focus of national politics away from the issue. The episode had significant effects on the national polity for many years. This was one of the few breachings of parliament, along with the 2001 Indian Parliament Attack.