Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], September 23 : The Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Peeth in Uttarakhand, Swami Shri Avimukteshwar Anand Saraswati Maharaj organised a Gau Pratishthan Andolan and Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra in Lakshmanpur on Monday.
During his conference, he spoke extensively on the issue of 'Cow slaughter'.
"It is diversity and identity of Indian culture that we Sanatanis respect our elders, we offer rotis to 'Gaumata', but it is miserable to see that they are killed. What could be bigger than this for our enemies?" the Shankaracharya said.
"We broke the chains of slavery and drove the British out of our country, who lectured us on cows and killed them for their benefit. We thought that our 'Gautmata' was free and gave support to the Congress party, which made a pair of bulls its election symbol. But unfortunately, no work is done for the protection and welfare of cows," he added.
The Shankarachraya further said that instead of declaring cow slaughter a crime the abbatoirs were even given subsidies.
"We want to tell the government on behalf of 100 crore Hindus that cow slaughter should be stopped and a law should be made on it," he state.
The Shankaracharya said that many states have made anti-cow slaughter laws while some states continue to permit it. The Shankaracharya has pledged to go to 35 states conduct special Pratishtha for cow protection.
Earlier, on August 6, the 55th Prakatotsav of Jyotirmath's 55th Shankaracharya, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati was celebrated with great fervour this year as the Gopratishtha Festival. A grand event was held at Delhi's Talkatora Stadium where several prominment politicians were also present. 21 scholars from Kashi also came to honour the Shankaracharya. The unique tradition of Tuladan, where Shankaracharya was weighed with rabri, was one of the main attraction of this event.