Mismanaged Government Gaushala caused death to large number of holy cows

From Vijay Sabharwal 

Kurukshetra, July 7 – While the country seems to have rediscovered deference to the ‘gau-mata’, recent incidents of lynching in the name of the cow have drawn protests from many concerned citizens. In this time of cow worship, the condition of the animals at a local gaushala has, therefore, offered a stark contrast between words and deeds of self-proclaimed ‘gau-rakshaks’.

At a ‘gaushala’ situated at village Mathana, near Ladwa, 20 kms from here, over 25 cows are reported to have lost their lives in pre-monsoon rain that lashed the area over the last 4 days, with the entire ‘gaushala’ transforming into a veritable pond. A number of cows got stuck in the marshy land, causing their deaths. Many also died due to non-availability of fodder.

Though this ‘gaushala’ witnessed cow-deaths on a regular (almost daily) basis over the past few days, the administration swung into action only yesterday, when the villagers raised a hue and cry against the negligent attitude of the authorities.

This brought the Ladwa MLA, Dr. Pawan Saini, and Chairman of the Haryana ‘Gau Sewa Commission’, Bhani Das Mangla, to the site last evening, along with a few district-level officers. Thanesar Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Narinder Pal Malik, also visited the Gaushala, with other officials.  Six animals were found still stuck in the marshy land. In fact, the state of the cow ‘shelters’ forced Dr. Saini to inspect the animals while sitting atop an earth-moving machine. Thereafter, he directed the officers to shift the sick animals to another ‘gaushala’ at Karnal, which has veterinary arrangements, and to attempt relocation of the remaining animals to 20 other ‘gaushalas’ running in the district, till the construction work here is complete.

The mood at the ‘gaushala’ turned tense when some of the villagers used derogatory language against the visiting dignitaries for their uncaring attitude towards the cattle, and accused them of not even arranging adequate fodder for the animals. Things came to a head when the veterinary doctor of the village had to save his own skin from a mob of furious villagers who tried to attack him – the good doctor made haste in finding his way out of the village, at speed.

Former President of Ladwa’s Shri Krishan Gaushala, Ashok Papneja, who used to donate fodder at this Gaushala also said that the district administration had raised a boundary wall around seven-and-a-half acres of village Panchayat land after the state government ordered the relocation of stray cattle to on roads to ‘gaushalas’. Loose earth was spread in the said plot and the stray cows were then rounded up to be housed in the ‘gaushala’. He said that, at present, there are over 600 cows living there, without any proper arrangements. There is no ‘Turi’ (wheat straw), fodder and drinking water available for so many cows. He expressed alarm that 20 cows were dying daily at the ‘gaushala’ for the past four days but that no official from the local administration bothered to take notice.

It is unclear exactly who is to blame for this state of affairs. When contacted, the SDM, Malik, said that while the ‘gaushala’ was started by the district administration, its day-to-day operational responsibility lay with the village Panchayat and the department of animal husbandry. Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry at Kurukshetra, Dr. Dharminder Singh, claimed that they took full care of the animals with the help of the veterinary hospital in the village, and vaccinated all of them. However, he said that it was the responsibility of everyone as these animals were collected from roads under ‘joint project’ of district administration.  He maintained that only some weak animals have lost their lives after getting caught in the wet swamp of the past few days – these, he noted, would probably have died anyway by eating plastic from the roads, had they not been shifted to the ‘gaushala’.

Giving a rough figure of mortality as between 25 to 30, Dr Singh said that the situation was being exaggerated by some people who are keen to grab the seven-and-a-half acres of prime Panchayat land that is currently being used for the ‘gaushala’.

Tej Pal Singh, husband of village Panchayat Sarpanch, Kiran Bala, who has been given temporary responsibility to look after Gaushala, said that work was being done on a war footing to remove slush and spread fresh mud for flooring. Over 50 volunteers are working round-the-clock to meet the situation arising due to torrential rains.

He went on to allege that some unknown persons had pushed over 150 frail animals from the ‘gaushala’ out of the facility, because of which over 30 might have died. However, he alleged that some politically influential persons were trying to give a bad name to the village Panchayat in an effort to grab the prime land given for ‘gaushala’.  He alleged that, somehow, an impression has gone through that the ‘gaushalas’ being run by the government may be closed by the next non-BJP government, with the designated land being retained by whomsoever in possession.

Photo- 1- cows stuck up in mud being extricated

2—dead animals being carried to ‘hadirora’-place to dispose dead animals.

3—Villagers protesting outside Gaushala

Touch me if you can!

Touch me if you can!

We are told the government is taking active steps to make traffic laws more stringent in order to discipline unruly Indian drivers and make them ‘fall in lane’. Like an effective ‘jugal-bandi’, the Supreme Court has joined the score by using its own authority to declare a-half-kilometer around national and state highways as liquor-free. Now, as you know, highways are to modern India what the Indus river was to our Harappa-age ancestors; so, this has obviously come as a big blow to our civilization, as it exists today.

Of course, I welcomed every move made by the ‘authorities’ to enforce more stringent controls on and around our country’s road network… until my son returned home one Sunday rather annoyed and upset. Upon enquiring as to the reason, I learnt that he had just been ‘fined’ by the traffic police for speeding on a stretch of road close to our residence. Speeding, he told me, meant going over the specified speed limit for that stretch of road, which – as the traffic cop informed him – had been set at 50 kilometers per hour. 50, he repeated: a speed that even ‘autos’ found difficult to keep under when in their highest gear! “You see, Dad,” he exclaimed, “the Indian system is brilliant: first they lay down laws that no reasonable person can ever conform to, and then they negotiate the penalty with you for ‘mutual benefit’”. Furthermore, he explained, the cops had neatly chosen the only stretch of road where a motorist could cruise above 50 kilometers per hour, in the first place, and elected to do this on a Sunday, when traffic was sparse and motorists could actually enjoy their rides in the otherwise choked city roads.

The following day, my son and I were traveling together in the car when, while waiting for the traffic light to turn green, a couple of cows wandered idly across the intersection, ignoring the ‘stop’ signal, before making themselves comfortable in the middle of the busy road junction. As soon as the signal turned green, there was a mad rush forward, as vehicles scrambled to nose ahead to lay claim on every inch of free road. There was a screeching sound and then a ‘thud’ as a motorbike slammed into the divine bovines, making complete minced-meat of the rider. Luckily, he was not hurt, as evidenced by the bored looks on the traffic police personnel standing nearby. As the rider dusted himself off, cursed his luck and picked up his mangled motorbike, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Indian driver deserved a respite from the roadblocks that he faced at every twist and turn of the nation’s roads!

In fact, now with the current enthusiasm around ‘gau-raksha’, the country’s dairy farmers have decided that it is too risky to sell a cow once it loses its (dairy) productivity – instead, they let them loose on the roads. In many towns, these cattle roam the streets, daring drivers going about their business to so much as brush past them – the consequences of wrong-siding a cow these days are simply too much for most. The cows stand there in the middle of busy streets, with an assortment of traffic zigging and zagging past them, almost with an air of nonchalance that seems to say, like the great boxing legend: “Touch me if you can!”

The Economic Revolution?

It is said that when things get truly dismal and oppressive in a nation, it sets the stage for a revolution, which throws out the current way of doing things and replaces it with a new system. Think of the ‘let them eat cake’ moment during the French Revolution.

This is what came to my mind when I heard the Prime Minister of my country on television on the night of November 8, last. I felt proud that an economic revolution had been declared and imposed by our worthy Prime Minister in pursuit of tax evaders, terrorists, currency-forgers and miscreants illegally holding Indian cash.

The next day, I realised that there were no small-denomination currency notes at home to purchase eatables and household provisions – only the big ones that had been declared ‘illegal tender’ the previous evening. On TV, I heard our Prime Minister proudly take credit for his great step in Japan, and felt reassured that it was only a ‘minor inconvenience’ – this was nothing compared to the misery that our dear leader had wrought upon the black money hoarders.

Watching people standing in a long queue in front of banks that morning, I thought a revolution was certainly in the making. With the help of my bank manager, I managed to exchange 6 five-hundred Rupee notes to meet the immediate needs of my family.

Later that evening, I was tuned into one of the several broadcasts of our energetic Prime Minister in one city after another when tears welled up in my eyes – the strong Prime Minister was choked in emotion as he described how he had left everything (house, family, friends) in order to serve the nation and its people. I was convinced that our Prime Minister was a godsend to our nation and that only he had the wherewithal to Make India Great Again.

However, I then began to hear about the agony of people stuck in serpentine queues in desperate search of a means to withdraw cash – their own savings! I must admit: my mind wavered. Had our Prime Minister thought this through fully?

Just as I pondered the impact of the revolution, I received an SOS from my son in Delhi that he urgently needed cash in lower-denomination notes to meet basic household expenses. He explained that he had been unable to withdraw or exchange his high-currency notes from the bank in spite of queuing up for three hours. His 72-year-old domestic maid, ’Amma’, had come to their rescue by giving one 100-Rupee note to my grandson for buying food, and later offering a Rs. 2000/- note to the family, which she had been able to exchange on account of a short ‘senior citizens’ queue at the local post office.

My bank manager again came to my rescue and I was able to withdraw some money from my account that I rushed over to Delhi for my son. The joy that those notes brought was like water in the desert. My son called up the local stores from where the family had been buying daily items on credit. First came the ‘kirana’ man, with a stack of recent bills that had been made for purchases on credit. That must have let the word out on the street that low-denomination notes had become available at this residence because, suddenly, we had a series of local service providers and shopkeepers drop by one after the other to get their credit balance cleared! There was the vegetable vendor with his balance of Rs.1300. And the real surprise came late in the evening, at 10pm, when the stationery storekeeper came over to collect his Rs.210! To cap it all off, he graciously accepted Rs. 200, saying all he wanted were the Rs.100 notes! Thereby reversing the tradition of ‘tip’.

This was an economic revolution, indeed.