Police parade, assault cow slaughter accused in Ujjain, Hindutva groups felicitate officers
Ujjain: Two Muslim men accused of cow slaughter were publicly paraded and assaulted by the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain earlier this week, triggering controversy.
Videos of the incident, which occurred on Monday, show the accused being forced to chant slogans while being beaten with a baton. The two men, identified as 37-year-old Salim Mewati and 23-year-old Aaqib Mewati, were marched through the streets by a group of police personnel. During the parade, they were made to chant, “The cow is our mother, the police is our father.” Footage shows an officer striking them with a lathi.
Following the incident, members of Hindutva groups, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, felicitated the police officers involved.
Ujjain Additional Superintendent of Police Guruprasad Parasar downplayed the severity of the incident, stating, “Police did not beat them up like it is being shown. Someone may have hit them once or twice,” suggesting that the media had exaggerated the situation.
According to officials, the accused were apprehended on February 16 near Jaithal village with a sports utility vehicle, a cow, and a calf. Bajrang Dal members reportedly alerted the police, who also recovered knives and other tools allegedly used for slaughtering and skinning animals.
After evading capture, Salim and Aaqib were arrested near Indore on Sunday, while a third accused remains at large. They have been booked under the 2004 state law prohibiting cow slaughter.
Ghatia police station in-charge DL Dasoriya claimed that the accused had admitted to slaughtering over 1,000 cows and oxen.
Vinod Sharma, the VHP’s Malwa region chief, confirmed that members of his organisation and the Bajrang Dal had honoured the police officers. “We usually don’t felicitate in public, but these officers did a commendable job by catching these infamous men involved in cow slaughter,” he said, defending the police’s actions.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
