Gurugram/Ghaziabad: Wearing an electric pink sleeveless dress and a cross hanging across her neck, Christy Masih is a dedicated gau rakshak. Sitting at a cafe in Palam Vihar, the 21-year-old Christian woman proudly displays her Gau Raksha Dal card. The blue-and-white card allows Christy to check on the health of cows, buffaloes and calves. It also allows her to seek help from the Gurugram police whenever she spots a cow smuggler.
India’s gau rakshaks — or cow vigilantes — are getting a makeover and going more mainstream and urban, a testimony to the seductive power of the BJP’s political and cultural narrative since 2014.
From a sprout-eating bodybuilder to an engineer and an American Express banker, NCR’s gau rakshaks are a markedly different lot. They have day jobs, speak English, have Ed Sheeran and Beyonce songs as caller tunes and order cappuccinos at Starbucks. They are not the traditional orange-robed, tilak dharis with bamboo sticks and sketchy demeanours.
And they all look up to Gurugram’s gau raksha kingpin Monu Manesar, the accused in the recent murder of two Muslims in Bhiwani.
“Please click my picture. People think gau rakshaks are only rural men. But that is changing now. More and more people are realising that cows need to be protected in India,” said Christy. “There is a shift from love for dogs to love for cows among the elites now.”
NCR’s gau rakshaks juggle between their demanding jobs and cow sewa. They often spend sleepless nights responding to calls about cows in distress, rushing to the spot, mobilising their friends, and informing the police and Monu Manesar.
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Rescue missions
Fantastical tales of Monu Manesar’s tryst with death are the motivation that keeps these new-age gau rakshaks going. Their firm belief that the blessings from the cows saved the life of Monu after he was shot in the chest by cow smugglers last year is a frequent topic of discussion. These kinds of stories that fly thick and fast on gau rakshak WhatsApp groups and whisper networks have built him a cult-like following.
“There is a shift from love for dogs to love for cows among the elites now.”
– Christy Masih
NCR’s gau rakshaks mostly operate in the suburbs of Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Greater Noida.
A credit specialist at American Express with a convent education, Christy said she knows about the accusation against Monu but he is yet to be proven guilty. “For me, Monu is a gau rakshak and he has actively protected cows in Gurugram,” she said.
Her affection for the animal started two years ago when she spotted an abandoned cow in the middle of the road in Sector 56. Its limbs were broken and skin was damaged. She immediately informed the police.
That night she couldn’t sleep; something had changed, she said. The next morning, she went to the nearby gaushala (cow shelter) in Sadar Bazar to learn how to protect and care for injured cows. Here, Christy met members of the Gau Raksha Dal and started working with them.
Gau rakshaks are those who were always affectionate towards animals but felt that animal rights activists didn’t pay enough heed to cows, she said.
Nitin Sharma, 34, who runs a cow shelter in Ghaziabad is another gau rakshak inspired by Manesar. A lanky gentleman with his shirt tucked in and hair neatly combed, Sharma works as an auditor for an international bank. Half of his salary, over Rs 20,000, is kept aside for the rent of the shelter and rescuing cows.
He works directly with the Gau Raksha Dal and rescues injured cows from Delhi-NCR. Sharma’s journey began during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when he, a resident of Patparganj in Delhi, saw a cow die in his locality after being eaten by maggots.
That’s when he got in touch with Sumit, a gau rakshak from Bajrang Dal in Ghaziabad. He now rescues cows along with Sumit and takes them to his shelter where they are treated.
“Gau Raksha Dal is the only organisation in India protecting cows. So, when I first rescued the cow and asked around for help. The only help that came was from them,” he said.
Nitin is not as involved as he would like to be. After his father, a government employee, died two years ago, he had to step up to take care of the family. His wife, a triple postgraduate in Math, is preparing to write the UPSC exam. She’s wary of the risk involved with Nitin’s activities, especially since they have a six-month-old daughter.
His mother, who holds an MA in English, vehemently opposes Nitin’s ambition to protect cows.
But he is relentless. “My desire is to participate in the chase to rescue cows from the smugglers. One day I will,” he said with a smile.
At the Hanuman Mandir in Ghaziabad’s Sanjay colony, Nitin and Sumit talk about cows like most men talk about lovers — their affectionate eyes and sleek legs.
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Chasing cows
The midnight of 19 June, Shailender Gautam (28) from Faridabad got a call asking him to reach Palwal — a Santro car was allegedly smuggling cows to the Nuh district. Within half an hour, Shailender was in Mathepur Chhainsa village of Palwal district chasing the suspected smugglers in his Bolero. He was joined by the local police force and eventually, the cows were recovered and the men arrested.
Shailender has been receiving these tip-offs for the past six years. A mechanical engineer from Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Shailender was so moved by seeing videos of cows getting slaughtered that he adopted the surname Hindu.
But he is a modern gau rakshak. The diet-conscious engineer eats sprouts for breakfast, avoids sugar and calls himself an “environmentalist.”
“Rescuing cows is like protecting the environment. So why can’t I be known as an environmentalist,” he asked.
He got his start while still working with an engineering firm. He would rescue injured cows from the Faridabad roads. His work led him to join the Gau Raksha Dal. Shailender was so enamoured by the work of Monu Manesar and his team that he left his family and girlfriend and dedicated himself fully to the rescue work.
“My family was not supportive of what I was doing. They wanted me to do a job. So, I left the house. Cow protection was more important. You haven’t seen how they kill cows,” said Shailender, staring at the floor.
Shailender’s three-year relationship also broke down when he couldn’t give his girlfriend the time she asked for. But his approach to dealing with the break-up further demonstrates how he is an unusual candidate for his line of work — he is the antithesis of the machismo image of gau rakshaks that pervades the popular perception. He is a sensitive, new-age guy.
He recalled how he wept for nights when his girlfriend left and added that “men should also cry.”
Now, Shailender listens to Rab na Kare by the Punjabi singer Babbu Maan whenever he misses his girlfriend.
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BJP’s push
Christy, Nitin and Shailender admire the BJP government for making cow protection easier in India. In the NCR region of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, cow protection has been the prime focus of Chief Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Yogi Adityanath.
In 2021, the Haryana government notified the setting up of a State Level Special Cow Protection Task Force Committee and Special Cow Protection Task Force (SCPF) for every district in the state.
The Haryana government underlined that the main objective behind forming the task force was to enforce The Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act 2015 by collecting information on cattle smuggling and slaughtering from the public.
“My family was not supportive of what I was doing. They wanted me to do a job. So, I left the house. Cow protection was more important. You haven’t seen how they kill cows.”
– Shailender Gautam
The Uttar Pradesh government had also imposed a ban on illegal slaughterhouses to protect cows. “Gau mata will be protected. Every butcher will be seen selling vegetables. They will be freed from a life of sins,” CM Yogi had said while addressing rallies in Ayodhya. The cow has also been an election pitch —the UP government had promised a stipend of Rs 900 per cow to farmers.
“You hardly see cow slaughter taking place in Ghaziabad now. The cow slaughters smuggle cows from Uttar Pradesh and take them to different states for slaughter. Such is the fear of the BJP government and Yogi baba,” Nitin Sharma said.
Being a Christian woman, Christy’s participation in Gau Raksha has made her popular among cow protectors of NCR. She is now sort of a poster girl for their cause and the pitch that the gau rakshaks make while asking others to participate.
“When a Christian woman can understand the value of cows, why can’t you Hindus? She protects the cow like her own mother. She is getting all blessings from the cow,” Shailender tells his fellow cow protectors.
And the pitch is working, she’s become a motivation for many. Brijesh from Gurugram is one of them. The MBA student and son of a businessman now rescues cows with Christy and is part of the ‘Monu Manesar Team’ cow rescue WhatsApp group.
“When I met Christy. I thought that when a woman like her can work for cows. Why can’t I?” said Brijesh.
But Christy finds herself alone in a sea of men. “It has crossed my mind to join Monu Manesar’s team but because of safety reasons I have ignored this feeling,” she said.
Christy dreams of having her own women Gau Raksha Dal someday where they rescue cows and chase suspected smugglers.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)