Killing in the name of Gau Bhakti not acceptable: PM Modi's strong message to cow vigilantes

In a strong message to cow vigilantes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that killing people in name of Gau Bhakti was not acceptable.

PM Modi's remark comes a day after a man of Beria Hatiatand village in Jharkhand's Giridih district was thrashed and a part of his house was set ablaze by a mob after a dead cow was reportedly found outside his house.

Speaking at the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram, Modi said, "Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve of."

"We are the land of non violence. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Why do we forget this?," said PM Modi.

"Let's all work together. Let's create the India of Mahatma Gandhi's dreams. Let's create an India our freedom fighters would be proud of," the prime minister said.

"No person in this nation has the right to take the law in his or her own hands," he said.

Two months ago, Haryana's dairy farmer Pehlu Khan succumbed to injuries after he was attacked by a cow protection group and a mob lynched two men in Assam's Nagaon district suspecting them to be cattle thieves.

Earlier also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had denounced cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of its 'fake' protectors trying to divide society and the country and asked the states to severely punish them. 

Last year, cracking the whip on cow vigilantism, the Centre had asked all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cow and take prompt action against such offenders.