Union territories, which account for 99.38% of the country's population. Hindutva groups were using cow protection laws to attack Dalits, Adivasis and members of the Other Backward Classes. In many parts of India, entire towns were being forced to become vegetarian zones only because they fell in the vicinity of an important temple. This trend displays scant respect for the food customs of the majority of the population – India's Shudras, Dalits and Adivasi communities – on the part of state authorities11.

6. "When we carry dead animals, they inquire where they come from. When we carry hides or bones, we face the same questioning." The 'they' are various Hindu vigilante groups. Vigilante harassment happens often enough to make them feel insecure. Moreover, Dalit skinners do not have rightstanneries closed down when a national environmental tribunal found that they were dumping pollutants into the Ganges. Earlier this year, an investigation by Indian journalism outfit, The Wire, found that here, too, the threat of Hindu cow protection mobs is having an impact (From Aljazeera.com featured article, 'India's Dalit cattle skinners share stories of abuse'12).

India suspended ban on trade of cattle for slaughter (July 10, 2017) but cow related violence/mob lynching continue un-abated with percentage Muslim victims highest in 2018 compared to previous years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (lynch.factchecker.in).

7. Bahujans in the cattle Industry are rapidly giving up their traditional occupation. After the 2016 Una attack, when four dalit men were flogged for skinning dead cattle, Dalit leather tanners in Una and other parts of Gujarat gave