A Muslim corporator from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh handed over his pet cow to the police on Tuesday, saying he feared attacks by cow vigilantes, the Hindustan Times reported.
Abdul Ghaffar (pictured above), a Bahujan Samaj Party corporator from ward 73, left his cow at the Nauchandi Ppolice Station with a written declaration. He asked Station House Officer Sanjay Kumar to give his cow to someone who could take care of her.
“I have been taking care of this cow since she was a calf,” Ghaffar told The Hindu. “But with the increase in violent attacks, it is getting difficult for me to continue keeping her in my house.”
Ghaffar said “people from a particular group” say Muslims cannot keep cows as pets. “They have spread fear in the minds of people that it is no longer safe for a Muslim like me to keep a cow,” he said. Ghaffar maintained that his decision had nothing to do with his party.
Superintendent of Police Maan Singh Chauhan said the police will return the cow to Ghaffar, the Hindustan Times reported. The corporator, however, said he will not take the animal back.
Ghaffar’s decision comes within days of an incident in Meerut, where Hindutva groups allegedly harassed a man for selling his cow to a Muslim, according to The Hindu.
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