100 Gau Rakshaks tie two Dalits to a coconut tree,strip and beat them for skinning dead cow In Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA August 10: Two Dalit brothers were allegedly tied to a coconut tree, stripped and thrashed for skinning a dead cow in Andhra Pradesh, in a redux of the outrageous attack last month in Gujarat that has pivoted protests and a huge political controversy for the central government.

On Monday in Amalapuram, Mokati Elisa and his brother Lazar were hired to skin a cow that had died of electrocution, the police said. While they were on the job, the brothers were attacked by around 100 “gau-rakshaks” or cow vigilantes who arrived at the spot accusing them of stealing and killing the animal.

The cow was electrocuted while grazing, said a senior police officer. Its owner, a vegetable vendor, had hired the brothers to skin it.
The brothers are in hospital; one of them is reportedly critical. Two of their attackers have been identified as Gangadhar and Ramana.

It was in neighbouring Telangana last weekend that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a hard-hitting message against attacks on Dalits and cow vigilantism, saying: “If you have a problem, if you feel like attacking someone, attack me, not my Dalit brothers.

If you want to shoot anyone, shoot me, not my Dalit brothers.” He said “fake Gau Rakshaks” are “dividing the nation and should be isolated”.

Last month, four tannery workers were stripped to the waist, tied to an SUV, flogged and paraded for skinning a dead cow in Gujarat’s Una. The incident led to massive Dalit protests that were leveraged by opposition parties as they targeted the Modi government, accusing it of failing to protect the most underprivileged of society.