HYDERABAD: A Muslim group in the city has entrusted itself with the task of protecting cows from being slaughtered, days ahead of Bakrid.

Called Arab Gourakshana Samithi (AGS), the group comprises Muslims from Barkas, a suburban area of the Old City here.

The neighbourhood, which has become synonymous over the years for being an important market that sells meat of bovine creatures, is home to a host of tribes which trace their lineage to Hadhramaut in Yemen.

Abdallah Bin Ali Bahameid, president of AGS and a lawyer by profession, chooses to call the initiative a “movement” which intends to bring about communal harmony. “We are working towards building a spirit of brotherhood among Hindus and Muslims. No nation can survive if there is a trust deficit between communities. The Hindus revere the cow and there is no harm if Muslims respect their sentiments. By law, cow slaughter is prohibited,” he said.

Much like the Gujarat government’s Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board’s recent claims that the Quran mentions cow’s meat as the cause of disease, the AGS too makes strikingly similar claims. But instead of quoting verses from the Quran, its members say that it is a hadith (tradition and sayings of Prophet Muhammad) which records the Prophet as saying that consumption of beef is bad for health.

“When such a hadith exists, there is no room for further debate. We have Muslim scholars and other persons of repute on board who can corroborate this,” Bahameid said.

AGS members say that about 200 people from over 25 tribes have joined forces. These include youth and NRIs from the United Arab Emirates as well. But why begin from Barkas? “Charity begins from home. Had the movement begun from another place, questions about our sincerity would arise,” he said.

Sources said that the move has invited condemnation and criticism from a section of the Muslim community. “Many alleged that we are backed by the RSS and the BJP. This is false and we remain undeterred,” an AGS member said.

Others have accused members of being in cahoots with BJP Goshamahal legislator T Raja Singh, a fierce critic of cow slaughter. The MLA has a string of cases filed against him under section 153 – A (promoting enmity between communities) of the Indian Penal Code for his “provocative speeches”.

AGS members clarify that they will not take the law into their hands. Persons who are found transporting cows will be stopped and asked to return them to the sellers. “If this doesn’t happen, we will inform the police,” said Abdul Raheem Bawazir, an AGS member.

Other members claimed that the move will also prevent losses incurred by Muslim traders before Bakrid. “In due course of our observation, we have found that it is primarily non-Muslims who sell cows to Muslim traders. It is these sellers who inform the Hindu right-wingers of the purchase. These gourakshaks stop and usually rough up traders and Muslims incur double losses,” a member said.

But members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which recently launched a nationwide campaign from the city against the “saffronisation” of the country, rejected the AGS’ claims. The board’s assistant general secretary Abdul Raheem Qureshi points out though such a hadith does exist, there is consensus among scholars of repute that its chain of narration is weak. “There is no such hadith in the six authentic collections – Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmizi and Ibn Majah. The hadith quoted by them is outside the six. It is a very weak hadith,” he said.

