BGGY demands ban on cow slaughter

Bhubaneswar, Nov 4 : The Biswamangal Go Grama Yatra (BGGY) today demanded a ban on cow slaughter across the country and urged the government to take steps to protect cows.

Orissa BGGY vice-president Arun Kumar Panda told newspersons here that the Union government had been urged to enact a law to ban cow slaughter and declare cow as the national animal of the country.

The proposed law should have the provisions to punish people violating the act, he said.

Mr Panda said though Orissa had banned cow slaughter, the law was not being actually implemented and cows were being slaughtered every day. He said as many as 30 slaughter houses were operating in each of the 30 districts of the state.

He wanted the government to promote cow-based cottage industries, organic farming and steps to protect the grazing fields.

''Out of more than 100 species of indigenous cows available in the country, more than 70 species are already extinct by now,'' he claimed.

Mr Panda said in a bid to create consciousness about the need for saving the cows among the people, a countrywide 108-day rally was launched on September 28 on Bijaya Dashami day from Kurukshetra.

After covering 20,000 kms, the yatra would culminate at Nagpur on January 14 on Makar Sankratni day. During the rally 400 major functions would be held in different parts of the country and a memorandum containing the signature of 50 crore people would be handed over to President Pratibha Patil in support of the demands.

Prominent religious leaders like the four Shankaracharyas, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, Mata Amrutnanda Mayeeji were participating in the rally.

In Orissa the main chariot of the rally would reach Rourkela from Ranchi on November 7 and would go through Sundergarha, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Anugul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Berhampur.

Four massive Go Sammilanis would be organised on the path of the rally during its four-day sojourn in Orissa, BGGY state secretary Binay Kumar Bhyan said after the rally was over they would start five training centres at Cuttack, Rourekla, Berhampur, Nawarangpur and Sambalpur to train people about organic farming and cow-related industries.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
Unauthorised publication of any content from NewKerala.Com is prohibited