Coming down heavily on the anti-social elements who are running “shops” in the name of cow protection, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said killing humans in the name of gau bhakti is unacceptable. He warned that no one has the right to take law into his or her own hands.
“Violence has never solved and will never solve any problem. There is no place for violence in society,” said the Prime Minister, who is on two-day visit to his poll-bound home-State Gujarat. If one is aggrieved, law will take its own course, he added.
Addressing a gathering at the historic Sabarmati Ashram to commemorate its 100th year of establishment and releasing coins and stamps after Shrimad Rajchandraji, the guru of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi said indulgence in violence in the name of gau bhakti goes fully against the ideals of the Father of the Nation.
“This is a country which has the tradition of giving food to ants, street dogs and fish, the country, where Mahatma Gandhi taught us lessons of non-violence. What has happened to usIJ” Modi asked.
He urged the State Governments to take stern action against cow vigilantes.
“The Indian Constitution also teaches us about cow protection. But does this (cow protection) give us any right to kill a personIJ Is this a cow protectionIJ Do they have right to kill human beingsIJ Are these people doing the service to cowsIJ’’ he asked the audience.
He added if they want to work towards cow protection, they can do even bigger service for the animal by stopping cows eating plastics and ensuring cows do not die of starvation.
Expressing his displeasure over the fact that people indulge in violence in the name of cow protection are being encouraged, Modi urged them to follow the path of Mahatma and Vinoba Bhave, who espoused the cause of cow protection during their lives.
“Nobody would have practised cow protection and cow worship more than Mahatma Gandhi and (his follower) Vinoba Bhave. They showed us the way to protect cow. The country will have to adopt their way,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came against the backdrop of the growing incidents of cow vigilantism. A
Muslim youth was last week killed in a Mathura-bound train by people who taunted his family and repeatedly called them “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters.”
Earlier in August 2016, the PM had denounced cow vigilantes, some of whom had flogged Dalits in his home State Gujarat.
In his public denouncement, Modi had then said he felt outraged at such “anti-social elements” who indulge in crimes by the night and masquerad as cow protectors by the day.
Apart from the cow issue, Modi also talked about tourism and how India could be the most sought-after tourist destination for tourists across the globe. He also urged NRIs settled in different countries to become brand ambassadors for boosting tourism in the country. He also touched upon foreign affairs issues saying that his Government’s foreign policy is based on “India First” principle.
In his entry at the visitors’ diary of the Sabarmati Ashram, Modi described it as not just a brick-and-mortar structure, not just a seat of an organisation that stood 100 years, but also Mahatma Gandhi’s “tapobhoomi” (centre of penance) which set the nation free
from centuries of slavery, shook the nation out of slumber for self-realisation, self-rule, and build a new nation and show the world the path of humanity. He bows down to that “tapobhoomi”.