Stop cow vigilantes
India's top court yesterday proposed measures to stem what it called growing violence by vigilantes who claim to be protecting cows, revered as holy by Hindus.
India is reeling from a spate of horrific lynchings by Hindu extremists mostly targeting the country's Muslim minority, who have historically eaten beef.
The Supreme Court was responding to a private petition from Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi.
It said state governments should appoint senior police officers tasked specifically with curbing such attacks.
"There should be a planned strategy to stop growing violence in this sphere," said the judges, headed by India's Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
The slaughter of cows and the possession or consumption of beef is banned in most Indian states, with some imposing life sentences for breaking the law.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party has promised to completely outlaw cow slaughter across India, and has been accused of turning a blind eye to attacks carried out in the name of protecting the animals.
The latest was just last month when villagers in eastern India beat two Muslims to death as they transported cattle.
Police said the villagers in the eastern state of West Bengal blocked the road, forcing the men to stop before dragging them out of their vehicle and killing them.
Modi broke his long silence on the issue to condemn such killings in June this year after a Muslim teenager was stabbed to death on a train.
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