Vishnu Dabad, 30, a Gau Rakshak or a cow protector and politician with the regional political party Jannayak Janta Party(JJP), speaks on his mobile phone at a cow shelter, run by him for injured and sick cows, in Chamdhera village, Haryana, India, November 10, 2023. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
CHAMDHERA, India (Reuters) - Vishnu Dabad attributes his rise from poverty to powerful local politician to an animal: the cow.
The 30-year-old is one of many Gau Rakshaks, or cow protectors: activists who have taken Indian laws banning cattle slaughter and beef consumption into their own hands since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 at the head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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