Will break limbs of anyone who disrespects, kills cows: BJP MLA Vikram Saini

NEW DELHI: Even as his party colleagues tried to shut him up, a UP BJP legislator accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots case said yesterday he will "break the hands and legs of anyone who disrespects or kills cows."Saini, who was arrested under the National Security Act for his role in the deadly 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, has rioting and criminal intimidation cases filed against him."Any person who is unwilling to say 'Vande Mataram', or isn't proud to voice nationalistic slogans, or doesn't consider the cow to be a mother, or kills cows, I promise I will break their hands and legs," said Vikram Saini , BJP MLA from Khatauli in UP, who was attending a felicitation event for another legislator.Saini's comments were met with effusive applause from the audience at the event, but his party colleagues were highly discomfited and tried to stop him from speaking, Navbharat Times reportedThe legislator's comments come even as the state's new BJP chief minister Adityanath is leading the charge to crack down on what he insists are unlicensed abattoirs but what critics say are targets of a pro-Hindutva agenda.Adityanath's party colleague Saini said he was fully on board the cow-protection agenda. He said he has a "team of young people" fully ready to commit to protect cows as well as to guard the safety of India."The team is such that if there is war with Pakistan or China, its members will go fight on the borders even without a salary," Saini said.The legislator belongs to a village called Kawal, the epicenter of 2013's Muzaffarnagar riots that killed at least 62 people. At the time he was the village chief. He was accused of making inflammatory speeches and rioting and was also sent to jail.