Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati who loves to wade into controversies said in an exclusive talk with The Pioneer that the Dalits cannot be spared the arm of the laws of the country which apply to one and all, living in India. He said this while answering questions on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, showing empathy with the Dalit community vis-a-vis the recent incident of some Dalits being thrashed by cow vigilantes in Gujarat. The seer said that anybody regardless of the community he belongs to must be appropriately punished if he breaks the law.
“Slaughter of the cow and its progeny is banned in most parts of India. The consumption of their meat is also largely prohibited. If any Dalit is found slaughtering a bovine to eat its flesh the law must be allowed to take its own course. Shedding tears for the law breakers is tantamount to encouraging them to break the laws with more impunity,” the seer said while hitting out at the PM who dubbed the recent trashing of some Dalits as inhuman.
“By dubbing the majority of the cow vigilantes as ‘goondas’, Modi has now rendered them Akarmanya (ineffective). Even the police are finding it tough to take action against the law-breakers. This is nothing short of crippling police in the name of Dalit appeasement,” said the controversial Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth and Dwarika Peeth.
He further said that Modi’s strong statement against the cow vigilantes has demoralised those who are striving hard to stop cows from being slaughtered. “I am of the firm view that cow slaughter must be banned all over India and not in some States only,” he said.
“Is it human to take good breed bovines to States like West Bengal to be slaughteredIJ True, sometimes the over- enthusiastic cow vigilantes beat those found taking the cows for slaughter. But is it now our duty to stop cows which we revere as mother from being slaughteredIJ” he asked.
“As per section 43 of CrPC (Criminal Penal Procedure), cow slaughter is a cognisable offence which means police can intervene under the Act. The citizens have every right to catch hold of the people engaged in cow slaughter and take them to the police. However, at the same time, the Gaurakshak’ should not act for some vested interests,” he added.
“We are concerned over the Ministry of Home Affairs having empowered the police to punish the fake cow vigilantes. There is a chance that the order would be misused. Police would be in a position to take action against anybody tagging him with the charge of ‘Farzi Gaurakshak” (fake cow protector),” said Shankaracharya.