Preserving Agro-Ecosystem
The future is bright. The concrete efforts taken during the last several years for Gau Raksha are going to show good results in coming five years. These efforts may look tiny today, but their impact is being realised by the society across the country
The cow has been the foundation of Indian culture, economy, health and values since centuries. But sadly, she was ousted calculatively from the life of an ordinary person leading to gradual degradation in prosperity, health and values.
It is a shame that the number of registered slaughter houses in the country, as revealed by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy & Fisheries in reply to an RTI in January 2016, is 1,623 while the number of registered milk processing factories and liquid milk plants is 213 and 793 respectively. However, the number of illegal slaughter houses being operated in different localities is in thousands. The huge loss that the Indian Gauvansh has witnessed after the so-called Independence, was not witnessed even during the Mughal and British periods. Out of the 70 indigenous breeds of cow, today only 45 breeds survive and some of them like Vechur of Kerala and Krishnaveli of Karnataka have very few numbers. Some people are mad after crossbreed cows, which are not basically the cows. Article 48 of the Constitution mandates the States to prohibit cow slaughter. On October 26, 2005, the Supreme Court also upheld the constitutional validity of anti-cow slaughter laws enacted by different state governments. 24 out of 29 States today have various regulations prohibiting either the slaughter or sale of cows. Despite that cow slaughter continues unabated.
A lasting solution to it is mass awakening and taking concrete steps. Therefore, the initiatives going on for cow protection either by individuals or organisations disregarding their political, religious or any other affiliation, need to be highlighted, and their positive outcome has to be propagated so that other people also draw inspiration. The Sangh swayamsevaks are basically trying to coordinate all such efforts.
Gausewa in the Blood
Sangh has been active in cow protection since its inception. Sangh founder Dr Hedgewar had saved a cow from a butcher by paying the price of that cow to the butcher. Therefore, gausewa is in our blood. After Independence, the Sangh workers by contacting the then MPs got this matter raised in the Parliament. But no decision could be taken due to the non-cooperation from Nehruji, who said: “You want the cow or Nehru.” Then the gaubhaktas started an extensive signature campaign in 1952 and submitted a memorandum with 1,77,00,000 signatures to the then President of India Dr Rajendra Prasadji. When nothing happened, a massive protest was organised at the Parliament Street in New Delhi in November 1966 under the leadership of Pujya Karpatriji Maharaj, Prabhudatt Brahmachariji, Puri Shankaracharya Swami Niranjandev Teerthji, Shri Ramchandravirji and many other senior saints. More than ten lakh gaubhaktas joined the protest and many faced even bullets. Later, a Gauraksha Mahabhiyan Samiti was formed and the then Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji was its members. The swayamsevaks also actively joined the fast observed by Vinoba Bhave, who broke the fast after assurance from Indira Gandhi. But she never kept her words.
Mananiya Moropant Pingaleji was instrumental in initiating the concrete efforts for cow protection in the Sangh. The Devalapar Gau Anusandhan Kendra started in Nagpur has now proved to be an effective experiment. The Kendra has earned many international patents on cow dung and urine, and thousands of farmers visit it for training throughout the year.
Vishwa Mangal ?Gau Gram Yatra
The preparations for Vishwa Mangal Gau Gram Yatra began in 2007 and special tours were made in 2008 for mobilising senior saints for the endeavour. The Yatra began in 2009 from Kurukshetra and covering 28,500 km distance culminated in Nagpur. A total of 768 big events were conducted during the Yatra. At the same time 4,015 small Yatras were conducted which visited 4,11,737 villages. It was the biggest mass awakening movement in the history of cow protection so far. Later, a memorandum containing 8,35,0000 signatures was presented to the then President of India Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil. But nothing happened on the part of the Government. However, it generated good awakening about the indigenous and cross breed cows among the masses. Gradually, the demand for organic and panchgavya products increased substantially. Today, we have demand of over 10,000 desi cows. People want to rear cows, but they are not getting them. This shows a big change in the mindset of people.
1,000 New Gaushalas in Six Years
After the Gau Gram Yatra, more than 1,000 new Gaushalas have began in the country. Many saints now organise Gaukathas and Panchgavya products are made at over 400 places. The demand is growing. An activist Amol Virani in Surat sells Panchgavya products worth Rs 25 lakh annually. Equally, more than 2,000 kg CNG is produced from cow dung in Raipur daily. They run a car up to 40 kg in one kg of CNG. Similarly, 7,000 kg CNG is produced daily in Vadodara. Bullock-driven generators are successfully run at some places pumping water from 150 feet deep, running flour mills, fodder machines, wheat threshers, etc. Shri Vachaspati Tripathi in Banaras runs special floor mill with the help of bullocks. Pujya Ramesh Baba in Barsana near Mathura has installed a 3,000 cubic meter biogas plant and he is in the process of supplying electricity to entire Barsana.
The Central Government has also launched some schemes. There are efforts to install biogas plants and supplying gas to the houses through pipelines. A professor of IIT Delhi is coordinating this project. Biogas will help Bharat to become self-sufficient in energy, free from diseases, debt, unemployment and pollution. If every child gets cow milk, he/she will have good samskars making the country crime-free. It will also eradicate malnutrition.
Bhausaheb Bhuskute Trust in Hosangabad is doing good work in organ7ic farming. Thousands of farmers in Karnataka through Krishi Prayog Parivar and nine lakh farmers in Andhra Pradesh are practicing it. The efforts of Ajit and Ravi Kelkar in Indore, Subhash Palekar in Amarawati, Subhash Sharma in Yavatmal, Dinesh Parikh in Tinsukia, Dharmapal in Thanabhavan in Western Uttar Pradesh and Gopalbhai Sutariya in Ahmedabad are praiseworthy. Work on developing Cow Sanctuaries is going on in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. We are sure to get good results of all these efforts in coming five years. The future is bright. Today, it may look tiny, but its impact is being realised by the society across the nation.
The writer is Akhil Bharatiya Gau Sewa Pramukh of RSS.
As told to Pramod Kumar
