Cow vigilante violence in India

Cow vigilante violence is a pattern of mob-based collective vigilante violence seen in India. The attacks are perpetuated by Hindu nationalists against non-Hindus (mostly Muslims) to protect cows, which are considered sacred in Hinduism.^[1][2][3]

Since 2014, mob attacks have mostly targeted illegal cow smugglers, but in some cases even licensed cow traders, have become targets.^[4][5] There is a debate on whether there has been any change in the number of such incidents, as government data points out to reduced communal tensions after 2014.^[6][7] Cattle slaughter is banned in most states of India.^[8] Recently emerged cow vigilante groups, claiming to be protecting cattle, have been violent leading to a number of deaths. Cow-protection groups see themselves as preventing cattle theft and smuggling,^[9] protecting the cow or upholding the law in an Indian state which bans cow slaughter. According to a Reuters report, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks had occurred in India between 2010 and mid 2017, most after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. In these attacks between 2010 and June 2017, "28 Indians – 24 of them Muslims – were killed and 124 injured", states the Reuter's report.^[10]

There has been a rise in the number of incidents of cow vigilantism since the election of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) majority in the Parliament of India in 2014. The frequency and severity of cow vigilante violence has been described as "unprecedented".^[11] Human Rights Watch has reported that there has been a surge in cow vigilante violence since 2015.^[12] The surge is attributed to the recent rise in Hindu nationalism in India.^[11][13] Many vigilante groups say they feel "empowered" by the victory of the Hindu nationalist BJP in the 2014 election.^[14][15] The Supreme Court of India in September 2017 ruled that each state should appoint a police officer in each district to take strict action against cow vigilantism. The court also expressed its concerns that animals were being illegally slaughtered such as the case of 200 slaughtered cattle found floating in a Bihar river.^[16]