Amid growing clout of Hindutva in India, the head of one of the five cardinal Hindu monastaries on Tuesday made a strong pitch for a complete ban on cow slaughter in the country, threatening of taking a “tough decision” if his demand is not fulfilled by the government in next 33 days.
Ostensibly to build pressure on the government, the Jyotirmath Sankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati also announced that he will lead a ‘padyatra yatra’ (foot march) from Mahakumbh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, starting Thursday.
“It is mentioned in the scriptures that 33 crore gods and goddesses reside in the body of a cow. We have been running a movement to declare the cow as ‘Rashtra Mata’ (Mother of the Nation) for the last one-and-a-half years,” the Shankaracharya told reporters at his monastary’s camp Mahakumbh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, experess anguish over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government paying no heed to his demand.
“Now we have decided that from the next day of Maghi Purnima (Thursday), we will take out a 33-day-long yatra,” he said.
“The central government has 33 days to take a decision. If it does not take any decision in these 33 days, then we will take a tough decision after 5 pm on March 17,” the Shankaracharya added, giving an ultimatum to the government.
He, however, did not share any futher detail about the “tough decision” that he asserted of taking after conclusion of his yatra in Delhi.
All Hindu mutts ( maths) and ‘akharas’, including five cardinal monsataries established by Adi Shankara centuries ago in different parts of the country, has set up their camp centre to participate in Mahakhumbh in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh. A significant area of Prayagraj has been declared Mahakumbh Nagar, a temporary district, by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for administrative and other purpose.
The Jyotirmath Sankaracharya demanded that the government must put a complete ban on cow slaughter and declare it a crime under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (Indian Penal Code.
The “holy cow” must also be removed from the category of animal and declared as ‘Rashtra Mata’.
“The state government is going to include the cow in the school curriculum. But even there, if the cow is called an animal, what is the benefit of it?” he told reporters.
Jyotirmath or Joshimath is one of the five cardinal monastries, established by Adi Shankara, heads of the sankara’ cardinal mutts is in-charge of ‘Atharvaveda’.
Adi Shankara was a Hindu seer and teacher of Advait Vedanta centuries ago.
