Naseeruddin Shah says death of cow more significant than that of cop in today's India

Expressing his concerns over dwindling law and order in the country where "death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer", veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on Thursday said he's worried for children in today's India.

Actor-director Naseeruddin Shah. Photo: AFP (File)

NEW DELHI: Expressing his concerns over dwindling law and order in the country where "death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer", veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on Thursday said he's worried for children in today's India. Shah was referring the Bulandshahr violence in Uttar Pradesh where an inspector lost his life in a mob attack over alleged cow slaughter earlier this month. "The poison has already spread. It will be very difficult to capture this djinn back into the bottle again. There is complete impunity for those who take law into their hands. In many areas we are witnessing that the death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer," Shah said in a short YouTube video shared by Karwan-e-Mohabbat India. Shah said he is worried for his children -- Imaad and Vivaan-- to whom he and his wife chose not to give any religious education as he believes "being good or evil has nothing to do with religion". The actor said he feels the situation is not going to improve "anytime soon" and asserted he is angry, not scared. "I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks, 'Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?' they will have no answer. It worries me that I don't see the situation improving anytime soon. "These matters don't scare me, they make me angry. And I feel every right-thinking man should feel angry, not scared. This is our home, who dare evict us from here?" he said. His fear for his children's safety is reminiscent of Aamir Khan's comments on intolerance in 2015 that had sparked a major controversy. "I had received religious education as a child. Ratna (his wife) was from a liberal household so she received next to none. And we chose not to give religious education to our children because I believe being good or evil has nothing to do with religion. "We taught them about good and bad, what our beliefs are. I did make them learn a few verses from the Quran Sharif, as I believe reciting them improves one's articulation. Just like one's articulation improves reading from the Ramayana or Mahabharata from its original..." Shah added. On December 3, a mob, including right-wing activists, attacked a police station over alleged cow slaughter in the areas. The incident led to the deaths of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and another man. 99 incidents of cow-related violence since 2012; 97 of them during BJP rule According to the available data, 99 incidents of cow-related violence have taken place across the country since 2012 in which a total of 314 people were targetted by the violent mob. At least 39 people have died in these incidents and 165 suffered major injuries. 2017 was the worst-ever year for cow-related violence with 37 incidents of mob attack. In 2016, the figure was 24 and this year it is 21. While no deaths were reported in cow-related attacks in 2012, 2013 and 2014, 10 people were killed in 2015 alone. In 2016, eight people were hacked to death by cow vigilantes. The highest death toll from cow-related hate crimes since 2012 was in 2017 with 11 people losing their lives. These attacks were reported from 19 of 29 Indian states, with Uttar Pradesh (16), Haryana (11), Gujarat (8), Karnataka (8), Madhya Pradesh (7) and Rajasthan (7) reporting the highest number of cases. Of the 99 attacks since 2012, 97 occurred after the Modi government came to power. Only two years (2012-2013) of the UPA 2's tenure were included in the data, during which only two cow-related attacks took place.