An Indian Muslim was killed by a mob this week for supposedly carrying beef in the eastern part of India’s densely-populated and poor Bihar State. Indian Muslims are sometimes killed by Hindus for possessing beef, and are not even arrested for it, but in this case, three of the alleged killers have been arrested. Bihar is ruled by a political party different from the Hindu nationalists who control India’s central government.
The victim, middle-aged Naseem Qureshi, died earlier this week after being attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef, the sale and consumption of which is restricted in much of India by local governments. The mob consisted of at least 20 people, according to a police report. Police intervened after he was badly injured, but he died on the way to the hospital.
Ramchandra Tiwari, head of Rasulpur police station in Bihar, where the crime took place, said three people were arrested.
Cows are sacred to Hindus, and there have been periodic attacks on those accused of killing them for meat or leather, mostly people from the minority Muslim population.
Some Hindu groups have called for a total ban on cow slaughter in all of India. Hindu vigilante groups have taken to enforcing a ban on their own since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government took control of the central government in 2014.
Bihar is currently ruled by a regional party, not Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. In the state government, Modi’s party is in the opposition.
