Kashi Sumeru Peeth Shakaracharya condemns PM's 'objectionable' statement

Condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on cow vigilantes, the Shakaracharya of Kashi Sumeru Peeth Swami Narendranand Saraswati on Sunday said it encouraged the killing of cows and financially benefitted them.

"The Prime Minister's statement has somewhere financially benefitted the persons who kill cows. Can't the Prime Minister see that cow meat is being sold in the five-star hotels of Delhi? The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Gau Samvardhan Parishad and the Sangh talked the most about cow protection..So, are the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bajrang Dal running shops all these while?" Saraswati told ANI.

Saraswati requested the Prime Minister to seize the licenses of such cow protectors.

"Air and milk are being pumped into the breasts of cows in Punjab.can't the Prime Minister see this? On one hand, his conscience says that the slaughter houses won't be closed and now the Prime Minister says shops in the name of cow protection should be closed. This is a nation of the cows and they should be protected. If someone does anything wrong, then action should be initiated," Saraswati said.

"The statement of the Prime Minister is objectionable and it is giving encouragement to killing of cows. The protectors of cows don't run shops, they sacrifice their lives for the protection of cows," he added.

Breaking his silence on cow vigilantes in the country, Prime Minister Modi yesterday said most of them were anti-social elements masquerading as gau rakshaks (cow protectors).

"I get so angry at those who are into the Gau-Rakshak business. A Gau-Bhakt (cow devotee) is different, Gau Seva (cow protection) is different. I have seen that some people are into crimes all night and wear the garb of Gau Rakshaks in the day," he said while answering a question at the interactive session to mark two years of his MyGov initiative.

This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi has spoken on incidents of cow vigilantism that have provoked opposition allegations that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is encouraging - or at the very least ignoring - the bullying of the most underprivileged people by the self-appointed 'gau rakshaks'.