The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece, Panchjanya, has justified the killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Greater Noida's Dadri area over rumours that he had eaten and stored beef in his house.

In its latest edition, the weekly says the Vedas order the killing of "sinners" who slaughter cows, reported the Indian Express.

In its cover story, the Panchjanya claimed that the Muslim leadership and madrasas teach the community to hate the Indian traditions. It attacked the writers who have returned their awards, mostly Sahitya Akademi, in the wake of the Dadri incident, the report says.

"Akhlaq perhaps slaughtered a cow under the influence of such bad deeds," the daily reported citing the Panchjanya article 'Is Utpat ke Us paar' (The other side of this disturbance) by Hindi writer Tufail Chaturvedi.

"Vedas order killing of the sinner who kills a cow. It is a matter of life and death for many of us," it says.

The 52-year-old Akhlaq was beaten to death in Bisara village near Dadri, in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar on the night of 28 September, while his 22-year-old son Danish was injured seriously in the mob attack. It later emerged that the meat over which the man was lynched was not of any bovine animal.

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