Gujarat Dalit activist sends 25 kg plastic which 'kills' cows to CM: 'Punish the guilty'

By Rajiv Shah
Gujarat's grassroots Dalit rights activist Natubhai Parmar -- who created a flutter by dumping a tractor full of dead cows in front of Surendranagar district office in 2016 following cow vigilantes beating up Dalits belonging to the Rohit community in Una on July 11, 2016 on suspicion of cow slaughter -- has stunned the state administration yet again. Now he has sent across 25 kg of plastic recovered from the womb of a cow to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani to tell him: Plastics are the main cause of cow slaughter.
The cow vigilantes tied up four Dalit boys on an SUV with a chain, and paraded them for about a kilometre up to a local police station, caning them up all the way. The boys were beaten up on suspicion cow slaughter, even as their plea that they were skinning a dead cow, their hereditary occupation, was ignored. After a video went viral showing the incident, protests broken out across Gujarat, with Rohits pledging they would not skin cows any more.
Parmar, an activist with Navsarjan Trust, Gujarat's biggest Dalit rights organization, took this opportunity to tell the administration that Rohits were being forced to do this caste-based occupation, of skinning cows, and would not do it any more because of repeated harassment by the administration and vigilantes, which blamed them for slaughtering cows.

The cow protection exhibition

A year ago, on May 10, 2017, Parmar led a Dalit rally in Surendranagar, highlighting that cows dead because the ate plastic. A tractor carrying tens of kilos of plastic taken out of dead cows' womb accompanied the rally, insisting, those responsible for failing to take care of cows, setting them free as stray cattle, forcing them to eat leftovers on roadsides mixed with plastic, should be held responsible for cow slaughter.
Marking the first anniversary of the rally, on Friday, Parmar organized another rally, taking a 25 kg box, plastic taken out from a dead cow after skinning the animal, to be hands over to the chief minister. The box and a memorandum addressed to the chief minister were given to the district collector, who was told, even though the government claims to revere it as a holy animal, it does not take its proper care.
He told Counterview, "I was told I wouldn't be able to hand over the plastic to the chief minister, who is visiting here for a function. So we decided to hand over this to the district collector, meant as a gift to the chief minister."

The 12-point memorandum, a copy of which he gave to Counterview, said, the main reason why cows die is because of the state policy which led to disappearance of grazing land across Gujarat. While cow sheds or panjrapols were being closed down, the existing ones do not take care of unproductive cows, hence the animal is forced to go astray, eating whatever it gets on streets, including food mixed with plastics.

Memorandum, plastic being handed over to district collector

The memorandum to the chief minister said, "The government should x-ray dead cows to find out the reason of their death. If plastic is found, the responsibility of setting the cows go astray should be fixed, and those found guilty should be tried under the the state's law which seeks to punish those slaughtering cow."
The memorandum demands taking back grazing land handed over to industrialists, setting up special fodder ration shops for cows, setting up of special veterinary hospital in each Gujarat district by operating upon live cows and taking out out plastic from their womb, a complete ban on plastics, and so on.
Parmar's move follows a unique permanent exhibition on cow protection he has organized on the road leading to Wadhvan town off Ahmedabad-Gandhidham highway. The exhibit is an installation of sorts highlighted by a cow prototype with its stomach exposed, intestines choked with plastic. At the exhibit, swathes of blood and fluid are soaked in plastic, removed by kilos from dead bovines during cow skinning, all of it hung on bamboo rods.

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog