Dead Cows Left In West India As Low-caste Dalits Strike

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published July 28, 2016 | 04:09 PM

AHMEDABAD, India,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th july,2016) - Hundreds of dead cattle have been left rotting in western India after members of the lowest Dalit social caste refused to dispose of them in protest at a vicious attack, a rights group said Thursday. The group, in Gujarat state, has called a mass rally to protest the treatment of low-caste workers, often tasked with unsavoury jobs including the disposal of dead cows. Around 10,000 people are expected to attend the rally on Sunday in Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad, said Kirit Rathod, a spokesman for Dalit Adhikar Manch.

"Since Dalits have stopped disposing of the cattle carcasses in nearly half a dozen districts, approximately 500 (dead) cattle are lying unattended across various towns and villages of Gujarat," Rathod said.

Another representative of the group, Jignesh Mewani, told AFP that "at least 500 families of 19 villages and towns" across Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state had stopped work. The strike comes after four Dalits were stripped half-naked, tied to a car and thrashed by cow protection vigilantes on July 11 over suspicions they had killed one of the animals.