On 17th February 2023, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) published a press release in which the organization said that vote-bank politics influences the investigations by Rajasthan police in cattle smuggling cases. VHP further said that the Bhiwani case is no exception. VHP has accused Rajasthan police of witch-hunt against Bajrang Dal in the Bhiwani case. The press statement contains remarks by VHP’s central joint general secretary Dr. Surendra Jain and it is issued by VHP’s spokesperson Vinod Bansal.
In the press statement, Dr. Surendra Jain said, “It is extremely unfortunate to find some charred skeletons in a burnt vehicle at Loharu, Haryana! Whether this fire took place accidentally or was set by someone, is yet to be investigated. The car belongs to Rajasthan but the identity of the skeletons is a matter of investigation. The culprits must be punished after a fair investigation of the case. This is our clear opinion.”
According to the press statement, he further said, “Two cow smugglers are missing from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, against whom many cases of cow smuggling are already going on. A smuggler’s brother has expressed doubts about some of the prominent names of Bajrang Dal. It seems that without a preliminary investigation, the Rajasthan Police has assumed that the names taken by the smuggler’s brother are responsible for the incident. Unfortunately, the name of Bajrang Dal is being taken unnecessarily in this incident. The role of the Rajasthan government in such cases has always been influenced by vote bank politics; it has been proved in many cases earlier also; it has been a matter of their political agenda. The name of Bajrang Dal being dragged unnecessarily into this matter cannot be considered fair in any way.”
The VHP’s press statement demands an apology from the Rajasthan government for unnecessarily naming Bajrang Dal in the case. It said in the statement, “Even the society there, which suffers from political bias, doesn’t expect justice from the Rajasthan government. Therefore, VHP demands that: 1. There should be a CBI inquiry into this matter. 2. Till the completion of the investigation, no person should be arrested merely on the basis that his name has been taken by the brother of the cow smuggler. 3. On completion of the investigation. the culprits should be severely punished. 4. The Rajasthan government, guilty of taking the name of Bajrang Dal unnecessarily, should apologize for this false allegation.”
OpIndia spoke to Dr. Surendra Jain on this issue.
In an interaction with OpIndia, VHP’s central joint general secretary Dr. Surendra Jain said, “In this whole area of Mewat, Hindu farmers have low land holding capacity, and therefore they cannot deploy machines in their farms. All they can use for agrarian work is livestock. Therefore cattle become more important to them. When the cow smugglers steal the cattle (cows, bulls, etc.), it breaks the backbone of the farmer. If a bull is lost, he can’t do farming. If a cow is lost, he cannot get a nutritious diet for his children and family members. Therefore, a farmer is not only emotionally pained by the cow-smuggling incidents, but these mishaps affect him in economic terms too.”
VHP office-bearer Dr. Surendra Jain further said, “This is not just an issue related to the farmers. It is a challenge before the entire state apparatus. Because the policemen cannot arrest the smugglers. No one dares to enter the villages where they live. If someone attempts to go there, he is beaten up. Some people tried in the past to go there, but their vehicles were set on fire. This happens in the entire Mewat region, from Rajasthan to Haryana. There are 100 villages without Hindus in the Mewat region in Haryana. No Hindu lives there. Almost 90 villages have less than 10 percent population. So it becomes 190 villages with more or less the same situation.”
Comparing the vigilance on cow smuggling in the border areas with that inside the country, Dr. Surendra Jain added, “The cow-smuggling incidents are well-controlled near border areas because the Border Security Force (BSF) has become very active now. It depends on political willpower. We have had the same armed forces, BSF, and police for the last so many years. But, it depends on willpower and the directives of the political forces. I believe that the BSF is strongly working under the current regime and has been successful in preventing cow-smuggling across the border.”
Dr. Surendra Jain said, “The cattle smugglers and the politicians backing them are annoyed by this vigilance under the current regime. Cow smugglers are not common people. They have the backing of a big political nexus. What happened in Rajasthan – you saw it. Two cow smugglers went missing. Two burnt bodies were found and it is to be ascertained by Central Forensic Laboratory or State Forensic Laboratory. There is no report ascertaining that the burnt bodies were of the two missing cow smugglers. There is no witness. Still, they have named Bajrang Dal members. When this FIR was written, they included the names of those who are involved in the cattle-saving activities. It was not at all considered important to check whether they were present there or not. I say with total responsibility that this FIR was written in a police station on the orders of the state government, and these names were included. A brother of a minister went there at that time. The most surprising thing is that these activists live in one area, and the FIR is written in some other police station.”
Dr. Surendra Jain said, “The meaning of this act is very clear. They chose a police station with an officer who can take action as directed by them, and who can bully the innocent. And he has done so. He killed the 9-month fetus of a pregnant woman. He is a killer. And he has done it at the behest of a politician. Therefore these people feel afraid when the community comes on the road for saving cows. And I emphasize this word – the entire community. It is not only the cow-savers, or Bajrang Dal, but the entire Hindu community wants to save cows. It is a sentiment in the entire country. Every common Hindu civilian is a Gau Rakshak.”
VHP’s spokesperson Vinod Bansal also alleged that the Rajasthan government is appeasing Muslims. He said, “We don’t believe the Rajasthan police’s investigation. We don’t trust the government in the state either. These people are engaged in tarnishing the Rajasthani tradition. An attempt is being made to stigmatize our organization even before the investigation. The investigation is deliberately being taken in the same direction. The compensation for the deceased (Junaid and Nasir) was already announced, i.e. the Rajasthan government declared that they are innocent.”
The Bhiwani case
On February 17, the Rajasthan Police reached Haryana to investigate the Bhiwani case in which the charred dead bodies of Junaid and Nasir were recovered by the Haryana Police. Junaid and Nasir were cattle smugglers and belonged to Bharatpur. The family members of the duo alleged that five Bajrang Dal members named Mohit Yadav, Shrikant Pandit, Rinku Saini, and two other Gau Rakshaks abducted Junaid and Nasir and later burnt them alive in Haryana.
Based on the complaint filed by family members of the dead smugglers, the Rajasthan police reached Haryana and began the investigation. It barged into the house of Shrikant Pandit and detained two of his younger brothers named Vishnu and Rahul. According to Shrikant’s family, around 30-40 Rajasthan Police officers entered their house at 3:30 am and assaulted the alleged accused’s mother and his wife. VHP has now released a statement in which it has accused the Rajasthan police of a biased approach against the activists of Bajrang Dal and VHP.
