CPI targets PM Modi over cow, says 'action' not words needed

Communist Party of India (CPI) has slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking action against Gau Rakshaks (cow vigilants) and said merely using words is not enough.

CPI General Secretary D Raja said that "finally the PM has opened his mouth, but words are not enough. Actions must be taken."

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi reacted sharply to the growing atrocities in the guise of cow protection saying killing person in the name of 'Gau Bhakti' is not acceptable.

"Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something that Mahatma Gandhi would have approved. There is no place for violence in the society," Prime Minister Modi said at Sabarmati Ashram centenary celebrations in Ahmedabad.

PM Modi asserted that violence is not a solution of any problem and no one has the right to take the law in his or her own hands in this nation.

"Today, I want to say a few words and express sadness on some of the things going on. India is a land of non violence; the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Why do we forget that? No one spoke about protecting cows more than Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave," he added.

During the last few months, incidents of mob lynching, violence, murder in the name of cow protection have increased, causing a tense situation across the country.

Earlier in the day, Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seeking publicity by criticising the violence in the name of cow vigilantism.

Talking to ANI, Azad said, "This is only a publicity stunt. He is making statement under public pressure after the people protested against such attacks. It is an eye wash, we don't believe him.