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Want legal ban on cow slaughter across country: Mohan Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday waded into the ongoing debate on cow slaughter and demanded nationwide…

Want legal ban on cow slaughter across country: Mohan Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (Photo: IANS)

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday waded into the ongoing debate on cow slaughter and demanded nationwide legal ban on it. 

“We want a law banning cow slaughter across the country,” Bhagwat said at an event here to mark the birth of Lord Mahavir.

"Any violence in the name of cow slaughter defames the cause, law must be obeyed,” he said.

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Bhagwat's statement contradicts that of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who had earlier said that they will ensure that people get to eat beef if the BJP comes to power in Northeastern states.

Nagaland BJP chief Visasolie Lounghu was reported having said that any ban on cow slaughter on the lines of Uttar Pradesh will not take place if the BJP comes to power in the state.

At another instance, N Sreeprakash, the BJP candidate for the Malappuram (Kerala) by poll, ensured voters that they will be supplied good quality of beef if he is voted to power.

The issue of cow slaughter has been at the forefront of political discourse in the country ever since the BJP was voted to power at the Center in 2014 and more so with Yogi Adityanath assuming the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh last month.

As soon as Adityanath assumed power in Uttar Pradesh, he asked the officers to take action against illegal slaughter houses in the state. Following it, there has been large-scale crackdown on slaughter houses across the state.

Gujarat recently passed an amendment to make punishment for cow slaughter stringent. The law now makes cow slaughtering punishable by life term and anyone carrying beef with a punishment of at least seven years.

All India Majlis-e- Ittehad-ul Muslimeen cheif Asaduddin Owaisi had earlier, commenting on the policy of Beef Ban and the BJP, had said to the the Statesman, The BJP uses cow as a symbol to polarise masses, its hypocrisy on cow slaughtering could be understood when it says that it will allow people to eat beef in NE states and put a blanket ban on it in Northern India."

Bhagwat's statement comes at a time when there is uproar in the country over thrashing of Pehlu Khan who was beaten to death in Rajasthan Alwar district by cow vigilante groups.

The government faced opposition in Parliament with the Congress alleging that there has been a complete ‘constitutional breakdown’ in the BJP-ruled state of Rajasthan.

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