Only 7% of Seized Samples Sent for DNA Test Was Cow Meat, Says Report

 NEW DELHI: There has been a significant spurt in cow-related violence in India after the Narendra Modi government came to power at the Centre in 2014, which began with the brutal lynching of Mohd Aklhaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, who was suspected of carrying ‘cow meat’. This was followed by a string of such cases in other states, primarily ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to data analysis website IndiaSpend, a total of 88 incidents of cow-related violence were reported since 2012, of which 86 were reported during BJP rule. A total of 33 persons were killed in such incidents.

The rising incidents of such violence had even spurred the Supreme Court in August this year to ask Parliament to consider drafting a new law to combat the menace of cow vigilantism.

Now for the latest development on the spree of cow-related violence in India. As per a report in The Times of India, only 7%  (eight out of 122 samples) of the seized meat sent for testing by various state police officials and animal husbandry departments between 2014 and 2017 belonged to cows.

Of the 122 samples of seized meat sent for DNA testing by police officials to the Hyderabad -based National Research Centre on Meat (NRCM), 22 samples were buffalo meat, 63 samples were of male bull, 11 a mix of cattle and buffalo, three was camel meat, two samples each of chicken and sheep and one sample of goat meat.

The findings, according to the report, are part of a paper prepared by NRCM researchers, who said they have now received a total of 206 samples, including 80 samples in 2018, from various states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra among others, on which reports are being prepared.

They told ToI that of the 112 samples received by them till 2017, the authorities had suspected that 69 would be cow meat. But this was disproved.

“Interestingly, three samples suspected to be cow meat were found to be camel meat, and the sample suspected to be a dog was a sheep,” the researchers said.

According to IndiaSpend, since 2012, a total of 188 people were ‘majorly assaulted’ during cow-related violence, while the number of those with ‘minor injuries’ was 81, taking the total number of victims to 288.

“In 2017, 11 Muslims were killed in similar incidents of vigilantism across the country, the highest toll since 2010,” the News18 report said.

According to a report in News18, “most of these incidents have occurred over the last four years since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in May 2014. Only one incident each was reported in 2012 and 2013. Of all victims killed or injured, whose identity was reported in news reports, 56% were Muslim, 11% were Dalit, and 9% were Hindu.”

The three states that reported the highest number of such incidents in 2017 were Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan – all three ruled by the BJP. Rajasthan now has a Congress government in place.