Opinion Express View on Monu Manesar: The official vigilante

In May 2021, the Punjab & Haryana High Court asked the Government of Haryana to explain itself on the “power/authority of vigilantes to raid the houses of citizens.” Such actions, the Court said, “are prima facie illegal” and “contrary to the rule of law”. The arrest of Mohit Yadav — aka Monu Manesar, in his “gau rakshak” alter ego — by Haryana Police is a welcome, though long-delayed, development. Yet, the fundamental question raised by the High Court over two years ago lingers on. Why has the police, in Haryana and in other states, de jure or de facto, sub-contracted its role of maintaining law and order to self-proclaimed cow protectors?

The list of charges against Yadav is long: He was arrested in Haryana for “objectionable and inflammatory” posts on social media during the recent communal violence in Nuh, then handed over to Rajasthan Police. He has been wanted in Rajasthan for his alleged role in the abduction and murder of Junaid and Nasir in February. The seeming impunity and brazenness with which Yadav operated may have had something to do with his political associations. He has been a member of Bajrang Dal and rose through the ranks to become the face of the gau rakshak movement by 2022 and the head of the Gurugram district Cow Protection Task Force. Such “task forces” are official — they were notified by the Haryana government in July 2021 to enforce the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act (2015). Yadav’s group reportedly has a network across districts and confronts and apprehends alleged “cattle smugglers”, often working with and for the police. These groups have also been accused of using their muscle power to run extortion rackets, targeting a community, in a climate of impunity. In the liminal space between law and disorder, police and mob, the likes of Monu Manesar flourish.

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There is a simple principle that all governments are bound by: Legitimately constituted governments have a monopoly over violence. Put another way, this means that the police and other law enforcement agencies alone have the power to detain and question suspects and investigate crime. By providing sanction in law and practice to cow vigilantes, the Haryana government risks turning policing into a cottage industry that is beyond accountability or checks and balances. Unfortunately, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand too have provisions to provide “official” identification to “genuine” gau rakshaks. They must realise that even the most genuine “cow protector” will only ever be a dangerously make-believe policeperson.