BSP chief Mayawati hit out at BJP, alleging that on one hand, it talks of protecting the girl child and giving dignity and honour to women but on the other unleashes goons on them. She was referring to the incident involving two Muslim women who were carrying buffalo meat were assaulted by people at a railway station on suspicion that it was beef in the presence of police which arrested the duo.
As she completed her submission, BSP members trooped into the Well of the House, shouting anti-government slogans and were joined by Congress MPs. Congress leader Anand Sharma asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not responded to attacks in name of ‘Gau Raksha’. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Congress party was not principally against cow protection but was against targeting of Dalits and Muslims in name of ‘Gau Raksha’.
Speaking for the Government, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said violence in any form and in any state was condemnable. “We don't justify in anyway violence against Dalits or women,” said Naqvi, who also holds Minority Affairs portfolio. He said Madhya Pradesh government has taken action in the matter. The government, he said, was committed to development and building confidence among Dalits and Muslims.
According to reports from Mandsaur, Superintendent of Police Manoj Sharma said they had received a call from a person on Tuesday stating that two women were being manhandled by people on suspicion of carrying beef at the railway station. Two police constables, including a woman, then rushed to the platform and took the two women away, he said.
After that, the meat was sent for examination which revealed that it was of buffalo, he said, adding one of the two women had earlier also been booked for carrying meat in an illegal manner. Following their arrest, the two women were produced before a local court which sent them in judicial remand under relevant sections of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-1960.
When asked about the incident, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said in Bhopal that the two women were not assaulted by other women passengers in police custody and said the policemen who were on the site had saved them during a scuffle. He claimed that the two women had an argument with fellow passengers and there was a scuffle involving both sides. “If they (the two women) give us any representation that something objectionable has happened, we will conduct an inquiry and ensure that the culprits are punished,” the Minister said.