Congress attacks BJP govt after over 100 cows found dead in Bhopal shelter

The opposition Congress has launched an attack on the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh after the death of over 100 cows at a government-aided private cow shelter on the outskirts of capital Bhopal came to light on Sunday. The state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

MP Congress chief Kamal Nath has fired a series of questions at the government over monitoring of the cow shelters, especially those getting government grants and asked it to ensure that such incidents are not repeated. Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has accused the BJP-RSS and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of trying to shield the management of the cow shelter as the owner is a BJP leader.

Meanwhile, the women's wing of the Congress has constituted a five-member team to visit the shelter and find out the true situation there.

On Sunday, carcasses of several cows were found in a well and strewn over an open field near the cow shelter run by Nirmala Devi Shandilya, who is said to be a BJP leader. An FIR was registered against Shandilya on Sunday after District Collector Avinash Lavania and district administration officials visited the spot, following protests by locals. The cow shelter has also been accused of encroaching upon a vast stretch of government land.

On Monday, Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that the postmortem was conducted on nine of the dead cows and it was found that six died of old age, two of pneumonia and one of liver ailment. He said an FIR has been registered against the owner of the private shelter and the government has taken over its management and made required arrangements for fodder, water and medical help. Healthy cows are also to be shifted to other shelters. Encroachment on the land is being removed, the home minister said, adding that a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident.

In a statement, Kamal Nath said that such unfortunate and painful incidents of cows dying in shelters were coming in from several districts and hurting religious sentiments. The government is remaining a silent witness to the tragedy and not taking any steps for prevention.

“Government should clarify on the number of cow shelters in each district, organisations running them, the number of cow-progeny cattle in these shelters, the annual grant to these shelters, the arrangements to health checkup, regular upkeep, fodder and water and who are responsible to ensure these arrangements. I demand that the government probe into the use of grants by the shelters and arrange for regular monitoring to ensure that not a single cow dies of hunger,” Nath said.

Digvijaya Singh posted a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday to attack the government. He asked the government to probe whether the Berasia cow shelter management was involved in illegal trade of skin and bones and also the use of grants released by the government. He also demanded that a case of cow slaughter be registered against the management committee of the shelter. 

Singh also said that the so-called protectors of Hindu religion only engage in politics in the garb of religion. “They have nothing to do with Hindu religion or with cow protection. They only want to earn money by misusing religion,” he tweeted, adding that the RSS, BJP and 'mamu-gang' (a reference to the team of Chief Minister Chouhan) are attempting to shield Shandilya and the management committee (of the shelter).