GUWAHATI: Proposed ‘Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra’ against cow slaughtering has ruffled feathers among people in the Christian-majority states of Nagaland and Meghalaya.
The representatives of ‘Jagatguru Shankaracharya Ji Maharaj’ has planned the Yatra on October 2. With the Nagaland government having already denied permission, pressure now mounts on the Meghalaya government to follow suit.
The Voice of the People Party (VPP) in Meghalaya cautioned the Conrad K Sangma-led government that the Yatra might disturb the prevailing peace and communal harmony.
In a letter to Sangma, the VPP’s Shillong MP Ricky J Syngkon said the party was deeply troubled by the proposed yatra as it has the potential to disturb communal harmony. “Meghalaya is known for its diversity, peace, and mutual respect across communities. Any event that may create unrest or provoke tensions among different communities should be approached with extreme caution,” Syngkon wrote in the letter.
The VPP has also urged the state government to not grant permission for the event. It stated that the peace, safety and unity of people must be the government's top priority.
Minister Rakkam Sangma equated the propagators of beef ban to “extremists”. He asked the organisers of the Yatra to refrain from creating a “drama” unnecessarily. He said they could hold the Yatra elsewhere in the country instead. He also slammed them for their ignorance about the Constitution and the diversity of the nation.
The BJP in Meghalaya has remained silent on the issue but the party in Nagaland has taken a stand against it.
The BJP’s Phek district unit in Nagaland extended its “fullest support” to the party’s state unit and its president Benjamin Yepthomi for the stand taken against the Yatra.
“The proposed programme, a part of a movement that seeks to declare the cow as 'Mother of the Nation' and ban cow slaughter directly interferes with the culture and dietary choices of the Nagas,” the BJP’s Phek district unit said in a statement.
“In Naga custom, equating mothers to an animal is outrightly disrespectful and insulting to the honoured and revered position mothers occupy in the family and the society,” the statement further stated.
It added that the Yatra severely undermined the spirit of mutual respect and tolerance that India as a nation celebrates.