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Side note but beef production is one of the mostly costly foods in terms of water and carbon consumption so any kind of cow protection is welcome in my opinion

Cow vigilantes exist because some folk are smuggling the cows and the poorer farmers cannot afford protection and risk losing their livelihood. So they setup vigilante groups to protect them from the smuggling market.

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Gau rakshaks don't give a hoot about poor farmers. In India, the butcher shop is mostly owned by Muslims, and this gives the perfect opportunity for these "protectors" to round up unsuspecting people and steal their money. The fact that they are muslims give them the legitimacy to do so because they have been dehumaned by the present government.

what no, gau rakshaks ARE OFTEN farmers themselves who are preventing butchers stealing their cattle, the farmers need the cows for their livelihoods

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