Rahul Gandhi warned that such incidents will have "very severe consequences for the country".
Five men were mercilessly beaten up by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan's Alwar district. A 55-year-old lost his life. But the attack was brushed off as "manhandling". In a pointed attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and the RSS, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today said there is no place in the country for those disagreeing with them and that tragedies of huge proportion occur when the government "abdicates responsibility".
Mr Gandhi warned that such incidents will have "very severe consequences for the country". He also accused the Prime Minister of "propagating a vision where only one idea will prevail". "This is a new vision for India that Narendra Modiji is propagating. It is a vision where only one idea will prevail and any other idea, anybody who does not listen to or agree with PM Modi or RSS has no place in India," Mr Gandhi told reporters outside parliament.
When Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in parliament today that "no such incident took place as described by opposition", the Congress, which called the attack a "shocking breakdown of law and order", retorted the minister was ill-informed.
In a series of tweets, Mr Gandhi blamed the Rajasthan government for the "brutal and senseless attack" by cow vigilantes. "When government abdicates its responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion happen. Shocking breakdown of law&order in Alwar," he tweeted.
He also urged all "right thinking Indians" to condemn this "blind brutality" and demanded strict action against the accused. "We expect the government to take strict action against those responsible for this attack," he said.
Pehlu Khan died at a hospital in Alwar on Tuesday after allegedly being beaten by a group of cow vigilantes. The incident took place on Saturday when 16 people were allegedly transporting bovines from Jaipur to Haryana. After the video of the attack went viral, a murder case was filed. The police made three arrests in the case.