Waste-O-Meal for Gau Mata and what a Sumptuous Lunch for Gau Rakshaks

Cows lumber through the dirt, trying to bite through polythene covers hoping to munch on rotten vegetables or kitchen refuse.

In the process, many ingest the entire package -- plastic bags, rotten food and garbage. Veterinarians say that over time, there is a huge build-up of plastic in their stomachs, along with other indigestible inorganic materials. The result?

A drastic reduction in their milk production ability, and in many cases death.

While self-styled cow protection groups, calling themselves "gau rakshaks", have indulged in widespread vigilantism under the garb of protection of cattle, there has been little effort to save cattle from the real threat to their survival -- urban garbage, open dumps and apathy of cow owners are seen having a sumptuous lunch on Dussehra.

"These people (gau rakshaks), they just set out wearing their headbands and target people, especially Muslims and the poor. Are they playing with the sentiments of the people? Is it a way for them to get publicity and earn money?

Slaughter has nothing to do with religion... There has been a tsunami of these so-called activists popping up around the country. What they do is just a way of stirring tensions and taking the focus away from the real matter,"

"Nothing will happen until the use of plastic is made a cognisable offence. The mounds of garbage piling up everywhere resemble the Himalayas,"