Author: ENS
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 27, 2010
THE BJP-Shiv Sena created a ruckus in the
legislative Assembly in Mumbai, forcing an adjournment of the day's proceedings
on Thursday. The Opposition was expressing its outrage over the incident of
eight cows found dead in various parts of Malegaon in Nashik district. The
BJP claimed that one of its women presidents from Malegaon died of shock on
seeing the dead cows.
The BJP-Sena raised the issue in the legislative
Assembly and the Council a day after the eight carcasses were found at different
locations in the communally sensitive Malegaon town. Home Minister R R Patil
said the incident occurred at around 11.00 pm on Wednesday night. "At
three places carcasses of a total of eight cows were found. Postmortem reports
are awaited to identify the cause of the deaths," he said. "Two
teams of Nashik police comprising deputy SP's have begun investigations to
trace the culprits," he added.
The Opposition alleged that the act was a
conspiracy to hurt 'Hindu sentiments' on the sacred day of Ashadi Ekadashi
when lakhs of Hindus observe fast and visit Pandharpur Leader of Opposition
in the assembly Eknath Khadse said that one of the BJP' office bearers Anusaya
Pawar fainted on seeing the dead cows. "The BJP had a meeting in the
Hindu gymkhana yesterday when the news came. Pawar fainted but later gave
a speech on the issue. She was later admitted to the hospital and died on
Thursday afternoon," he said. The matter evoked a few giggles from MLA's
from the treasury benches that led to heated arguments after which the Opposition
demanded adjournment for the entire day.
While proceedings in the Council continued,
the Assembly was adjourned six times since 12.00 noon and no business was
conducted before Presiding Officer Jeetendra Awhad finally announced adjournment
for the entire day. Sena MLA Subhash Desai said that those responsible for
cow slaughter should be arrested by Thursday evening. "The government
has shown laxity in handling the issue and has not even been successful in
tabling the anti-cow slaughtering Bill." The police resorted to lathi
charge in Malegaon on Thursday when some youth pelted vehicles with stones
during a dharna organised by Hindu outfits to protest against the cow deaths.
