A Hindu group’s plan to campaign against cow slaughter in Meghalaya by proposing to hold the ‘Gau Dhwaj Yatra’ has invited criticism from several pressure groups, who have also urged the State government to stop it.
Hindu leaders of the Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati of Jyotirmath, are scheduled to arrive for the Gau Dhwaj Yatra (cow protection march) and installation of a cow flag on October 2 in Shillong.
Yesterday the group had cancelled a scheduled a press conference but issued a statement with the announcement even as the Hynñiewtrep Youth Council (HYC) had gathered outside the Shillong Press Club (SPC) with placards to protest against the announcement of holding a rally to declare “Cow as Mother of the Nation.”
Today, the HYC and Hynñiewtrep Integrated Territorial Organization separately wrote to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to restrict the rally from taking place in the State.
“We strongly oppose this initiative. Such actions are perceived as a provocation to the religious sentiments of the Christian majority in the state. Beef is a staple food for the indigenous Hynñiewtrep and Achik communities, who have consumed it for centuries. Raising this issue in our region challenges our fundamental right to food choice and consumption,” HITO said in a letter to the CM.
“Should the yatra proceed and the cow flag be displayed on our land, we will take to the streets on the same day to raise the flag of the 25 Himas and demand the rights denied to us for over 75 years, specifically regarding the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Autonomous District Councils (ADC), which have yet to be fully honoured by both Central and State governments,” the organisation warned.
The HYC in its letter said that ‘beef consumption’ is a way of life of the majority of people in our State besides giving economic benefits to thousands of people involved in the supply and selling of meat in the State.
“While, we do not impose on others on what to eat and what not to eat, we are against anyone or any authority or group imposing their eating habits or belief system on us,” the HYC said.
The pressure group said ‘Mothers’ have a rightful place in our Society as the Hynñiewtrep people and to compare them with ‘cows or dogs’ is a taboo in our society. Therefore, we are totally against the movement and objective of any group to dictate us to refer to the ‘cows’ as our ‘Mothers’.
The HYC said the proposed event is nothing but an attempt to incite communal problems between different communities and faiths in the State, which have been living in harmony till date.
