Tapi; 5 May 2023 (UMMN): 22-year-old Mohammed Ameen Arif Anjum, a resident of Malegaon in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, was sentenced to life in prison by a sessions court at Vyara in Tapi district in Gujarat for “illegally transporting cows”
While delivering the verdict, the the Sessions Judge S. V. Vyas said that all earth’s problems would be solved and the earth’s well-being would be established the day no blood of cow drops on the earth.
Presiding over the District Court, Tapi, Judge Vyas added that religion is born out of a cow as religion is in the form of ‘Vrishabha’ (bull), and the son of a cow is called ‘Vrishabha’.
The 24-page order written in Gujrati also cited a Sanskrit shloka that asserts that if cows become extinct, the universe will cease to exist, and that cows, including their six organs, are responsible for the origin of the Vedas. To emphasize that killing cows is prohibited, the Court alluded to two further Shlokas that can be translated as follows:
“Where cows remain happy all wealth and property is gained. Where cows remain unhappy wealth and property remains unhappy and disappear…Cow is the mother of Rudra, daughter of Vasu, sister of Aditiputras and treasure of DhrutroopAmrit.”
The judge said, “A cow is the living planet of 68 crore holy places and thirty-three crore gods. The obligation of a cow on the entire Universe defies description…”
He also ascribed today’s problems – among which he identifies emotional issues – to the slaughter of cows.
“The problems that exist today are because of the increase of the irascibility and hot temper. The only reason for increase is the slaughter of cows. Till this is completely prohibited the saatvik climate change cannot have its effect,” the court said.
Ameen was arrested on 27 August 2020, a month after a truck, allegedly carrying 16 cows and bullocks was spotted by Gujarat Police, the prosecution told the local court. The youth has already spent two and a half years in jail.
Anjum's conviction was the first life sentence awarded in Gujarat under the recently amended Gujarat Animal Preservation Act, which aimed at protecting cows, reported The Times of India.
Anjum's counsel Pratik Barot emphasized the trial court's praise of cows and questioned the appreciation of the evidence. He submitted that this is a case of animal transportation alone and the maximum sentence prescribed for this crime is three years.
He questioned if there was a case for cow slaughter at all, and whether the convict was linked to the crime. "Where is the evidence of cow slaughter? How did the judge come to this conclusion?" the lawyer asked, going on to argue the severity of the punishment. "Does human life not have any value?"
According to The Wire, cows’ wellbeing has been at the centre of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva politics. Self-appointed cow protectors in various towns and villages are known to subject Dalits, Adivasis and members of Muslim communities to brutal physical abuse – that has at times ended in their death – in the guise of protecting cows.
