Fear, flight, silence: How Gujarat’s cow laws threaten Muslims

In Mota Khakivad village of Amreli, a locked house stands as a stark symbol of fear. The Muslim family that resided there disappeared after a November 2023 police raid led to their arrest for alleged cow slaughter. In November 2025, an Amreli Sessions Court sentenced three members—two brothers and their uncle—to life imprisonment under Gujarat’s Animal Preservation Act, along with a Rs 18 lakh fine. Their sudden exit and silence reflect a deeper anxiety gripping communities across the state.

Violence linked to cow protection continues to erupt with brutal force. In February, two Muslim men were attacked in Gandhinagar by vigilantes who rammed their vehicle, leaving them seriously injured despite no evidence of illegal cattle. This mirrors the May 2024 killing of a man in Banaskantha’s Deesa village, beaten to death with iron rods while transporting buffaloes. No illegal activity was proven, yet the mob acted with fatal certainty. Most of the accused in the murder case were released within months, intensifying fear among the victims’ families.

In villages like Nava Sesan, fear dictates daily life. Muslim families hesitate to step out, children remain indoors, and even seeking medical help becomes difficult due to poverty and insecurity. Survivors often avoid pursuing justice, fearing retaliation, especially in areas surrounded by hostile demographics. The environment creates a suffocating silence where victims feel abandoned and unsafe.

For many Muslims, even lawful engagement with cattle has become dangerous. Identity alone invites suspicion, turning routine activities into life-threatening risks.

Cattle traders, herders, and transporters across Gujarat describe relentless harassment by vigilante groups. Interceptions, violence, extortion, and police action—often without evidence—have become common. Even when no crime is established, livelihoods are destroyed.

Traditional occupations are collapsing. Nomadic communities and small traders are forced to sell livestock at distress prices or abandon their trade entirely. Many now survive on low-paying daily labour, earning a fraction of their previous income.

The crisis is rooted in a broader post-2014 shift marked by rising cow-related violence and stricter laws. Gujarat’s 2017 amendment made cow slaughter punishable by life imprisonment, the harshest penalty in India, equating it with human killing. Other states followed with severe restrictions, while recent proposals aim to centralise cow protection under a national framework.

This legal escalation has intensified ground-level tensions, blurring the line between enforcement and persecution.

The economic fallout is severe. Traders report vehicle seizures, fines, and physical abuse. Even licensed operators face arbitrary detention. Survival itself has become a risk, pushing entire communities—especially nomadic and marginalised groups—into poverty.

Generations dependent on animal husbandry are being forced out, with few alternatives. What was once a stable livelihood is now a dangerous liability.

Based on The Wire story, "‘We Are Always Guilty Because We Are Muslims’: Gujarat’s Cow Laws Are Pushing a Community into Poverty."