Maldhari community protest cow slaughtering and trafficking in Ahmedabad

Just a day after the Maldhari community staged a mass protest against cow slaughter, dirty politics surrounding the issue has reared its ugly head. On Thursday, 70,000 Maldharis gathered at Shertha village near Adalaj to protest cow slaughtering and trafficking.

However, they claim that the ruling BJP government is fearful of their unity on the issue and thus has tried to divide them internally.

On Friday a newspaper presented published an article which suggested that the Maldhari community is happy with the government's efforts in curbing cow slaughter. This has angered the community.

Angered by the news report, Nagji Desai, president of Maldhari Ekta Samiti, lambasted the BJP government. "This is an attempt to create an impression that we will not hold our August 17 mass meet, which is not the case. The government should not indulge in such practices and instead should work towards curbing cow slaughter," said Desai, who held a meeting on Friday in Bapunagar with other members of the community.

According to Teja Desai, a prominent activist, some BJP leaders are behind these  politics. "We have learned that some BJP leaders have got directives from the government to discourage maldharis from staging a mass protest against cow slaughter on August 17," said Desai, who has issued a letter urging all the Maldharis to remain present at Shertha on August 17.

On August 17 the community will put forward several demands including making illegal cow slaughter a non-bailable offence.