VHP leaders demand nodal officers who check cow vigilantes should overlook cattle smugglers as well

Udupi: The “Dharma Sansad”, a conclave of Hindu seers, mutt heads and VHP leaders, on Sunday demanded the immediate withdrawal of a directive, which it claimed was issued by the Centre to states on the issue of cow vigilantism. Briefing reporters on the concluding day of the three-day conclave, VHP international joint general secretary Surendra Kumar Jain said the meet passed a resolution to this effect. [caption id=“attachment_4228895” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at ‘Dharma Sansad’, a congregation of Hindu saints, mutt heads and VHP leaders from across the country, at an event in Udupi, Karnataka. PTI[/caption] “The notification was issued a few days ago by the Centre to all state governments. We want to tell the Centre it is not the cow protectors, but the cattle smugglers whose dossier is to be prepared,” he claimed. He said the conclave in another resolution urged the Supreme Court to widen the scope of nodal officers appointed to check cow vigilantes to also include those who kill cows. “We do not want the protection of fake cow protectors. Such impostors must be brought to book. But in the process of taming fake cow vigilantes, the sincere cow protectors should not suffer. We appeal to the Supreme Court to widen the scope and area of nodal officers and include cow butchers,” he said. Jain said the meet also passed a resolution seeking the setting up of a DNA test facility at points from where beef was being exported. The meet took a strong objection to those “intentionally” organising beef parties. “Such things irritate people and agitate the society,” Jain said. Another resolution demanded that facilities given to the religious minorities be extended to the religious majority, saying due to this discrimination, many Hindu communities want to become religious minority groups to enjoy the benefit. More than 2,000 seers, mutt heads and other Sangh Parivar leaders attended the conclave, where the issue of building a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya was discussed. Addressing the meet on its inaugural day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said only the Ram Temple would come up there and not any other structure. Vishvesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejavar Math of Udupi, who chaired the reception committee, has said that the Ram Temple will be built in a year. The conclave on Saturday suggested a slew of measures to eradicate the scourge of untouchability and social inequality. Stressing that untouchability has no religious backing, it was proposed that temples, houses and institutions should be open to all and there should not be any discrimination in sharing funeral grounds, lakes, wells and water taps. The Udupi meet was significant as the first formal announcement for a Ram Temple at the Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya was made here in 1985 and a year later, the doors of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya were open to public for ‘darshan’. Located in the coastal area, Udupi is famous for Lord Krishna Temple, with the idol believed to have been discovered by 13th-century Vaishnavite saint Madhwacharya, who founded the Dwaitha school of philosophy.