BJP says leaf out of our book as CM Mann leads a yogshala, Punjab sees widespread raids under cow slaughter Act

It isn’t the only recent Mann government move either, aligned to a core BJP issue.

On Sunday, the Punjab Police raided 185 premises connected to those booked under the state’s Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act in the past few years, involving 132 police teams and a total of 900 personnel. These were carried out on the directions of DGP Gaurav Yadav.

The surprise measure, news of which was shared only after the raids were over, followed the discovery of a slaughtered cow in Haripura village of Sangrur district on June 15. While seven people allegedly involved in the slaughter were held the same day, there was some tension in the town following the discovery.

As per BJP Sangrur district president Randeep Deol, the local market remained closed for several hours the next day, with Hindu organisations expressing deep concern over what had happened. “The incident shook the area’s residents. Perhaps this was the reason that the police conducted mass raids on June 18,” said Deol.

Special DGP (Law & Order) Arpit Shukla said that while no fresh action was taken against anyone after the raids linked to the cow slaughter Act, “the intent of the operation was to keep tabs on violators to ensure they do not indulge in anti-social activities”. “Such raids will continue,” the Special DGP said. “The police won’t spare anyone found indulging in killing / slaughtering cows as the force is committed to protecting and preserving cattle as per the law.”

On the sweep of the Act, he said the Punjab Police has registered 319 FIRs under it since 2016.

Such operations also help infuse fear in anti-social elements and instill a sense of security among the common people, said police authorities.

While cow slaughter is banned in Punjab, like in most of the country, it is rare for the same to flare up into violence, unlike other parts. There are hardly any incidents of cow vigilantism, making the police crackdown involving cases going back years surprising.

The BJP’s Deol said the AAP was doing lip-service to woo over the BJP’s vote base. “They conducted raids on persons who were earlier booked under the cow slaughter Act, years ago… Let’s see how serious they are in their actions because this government believes more in publicising than actually doing anything,” Deol said.

Adding that Sangrur had not seen an incident of cow slaughter before this, he said the “nexus” behind it should be unearthed.

The raids followed another development: a representation made to Mann during a Punjab Cabinet meeting on June 9 for a solution to the stray cattle menace, with the delegation telling the CM about accidents caused due to them.

A Mansa-based lawyer, Gurlabh Singh Mahal, who was part of the delegation, said: “Most of the cows, buffaloes which stop giving milk are normally abandoned by their owners… Though the CM didn’t take our memorandum personally, we gave it to the district authorities. While addressing mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting, the CM stated that a policy to control the stray cattle menace is being framed.”

Anil Sarin, the chief spokesperson of the BJP Punjab unit, said the Mann government’s commitment towards yoga was also suspect. “They announced the ‘CM di yogshala’ programme, but have they started any classes in different parts of the state? They are a government that cannot implement its own Cabinet decisions… what to talk of anything else?”

Sarin added,”The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. PM Modi started this celebration… Hence if any state is trying to introduce their own programme… the larger message is that they are introducing Modi’s programme.”

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While the CM led the event in Jalandhar on June 20, the police department organised yoga camps in districts such as Muktsar, Fazilka. On Wednesday, district-level programmes are planned by respective deputy commissioners across the state to mark the Centrally designated International Yoga Day.