BJP leader compares cow smugglers to terrorists; mocks Congress for inaction

The vice-president of the BJP's Rajasthan unit has said cow smugglers were like "terrorists" and asked the newly-elected Congress government to protest against cow smuggling and slaughter. "I will call those people terrorists who indulge in cow smuggling and slaughter but do not desist from their actions. It's strange that none of the Congress leaders protests against the menace. Now, they are in power and they should work to stop such crimes," Gyan Dev Ahuja told reporters in Alwar on Tuesday.

His comments come three days after a 23-year-old youth, Sagir Khan was beaten up by a mob in Alwar district on Sunday for allegedly transporting cattle illegally. Ahuja, a former Ramgarh constituency MLA from Alwar, claimed that there was no mob lynching in the district as such. "It is not a planned murder or beatings like murder and rape. It's people's anger which burst when police fail to take cognisance." He said the people's anger was a part of a "natural course" as those involved in cow smuggling and slaughter were not able to answer "satisfactorily" when they were stopped.

The Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president said people belonging to the Muslim community should respect the sentiments of the "big brother", the Hindus, and protest against cow smuggling and slaughter. Ahuja claimed that the accused booked in the Pehlu Khan mob-lynching case were "innocent". An inquiry revealed that they were not present at the spot and were later revealed on bail, he said. "However, I am not in favour of manhandling and murder." The BJP leader had courted controversies earlier too with his remarks.

In July, Ahuja had said cow slaughter was a "bigger crime" than terrorism. He had also demanded the release of three persons arrested for allegedly lynching 28-year-old Rakbar Khan on the suspicion of smuggling cows. In 2016, he had alleged that the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was hub of sex and drugs, where over "3,000 used condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles" are found daily.

(With inputs from agencies.)