By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : An alliance of Hindu groups in Britain is to stage a mock cow slaughter outside the British parliament Wednesday to highlight gaps in legislation that it says allows authorities to kill cows that are being cared for.
The action follows the forced killing in December of a sick cow, Gangotri, that was being cared for at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, a large temple run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON) in a London suburb.
Doctors of the Royal Society carried out the killing for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) inside the temple premises as devotees prayed, leading to charges of deception.
Protesters say the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 that allows authorities to mercy-kill a sick animal suffering neglect makes no provision for animals that are being cared for. Their London demonstration is timed to take places just as Gangotri’s ashes are being scattered over the Ganges in the Hindu holy town of Varanasi.
But in the run-up to the protest, the Hindu Council UK (HCUK) – a leading member of the umbrella Hindu Alliance – distanced itself from the plan without giving a reason.
“The Hindu Council UK is working with Bhaktivedanta Manor to investigate the killing of Gangotri, and is liasing with the temple and with the government to agree policy on the treatment of temple animals,” it said late Tuesday evening.
The group added that that it will not take part in the protest.
Vinay Tanna of ISCKON said: “It’s difficult to get unity in certain areas. HCUK were part of the Hindu Alliance and attended all the meetings. All other groups are with us.
“We don’t always speak with one voice. Unfortunately, we will always have that difficulty, especially in a minority religion.”
Tanna said the protest had “nothing to do with religion”.
“The issues are of law, the due process and of sensitivity and animal welfare. England is a pet lover’s paradise but here is an example of cats and dogs having potentially more rights than our cows,” he added.
At the protest, hundreds of students and Hindu leaders will take part in an enactment of the RSPCA’s killing of Gangotri, a 13-year-old Belgian blue-jersey-cross that was unable to stand after an accident.
Alongside, orange-robed Hindu monks will blow on sacred conch shell. The procession will start from Parliament Square and finish outside the offices of the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Tanna said.
The Hindus have won the support of Barry Gardiner, a Labour Party MP for Brent North constituency, which includes a large number of Gujarati Hindus and ISKCON devotees.
“The temple nursed Gangotri in a way no farmer could ever afford to do. The RSPCA seem to have missed the point that Gangotri was not being made to suffer. On the contrary, she had survived so long precisely because of the quality of care she had received,” Gardiner said.
“Our society must be able to recognise that just as we do not allow the euthanising of human beings, Hindus do not accept the euthanasia of cows,” added the MP, who had initiated an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons against the killing of Gangotri.
Protesters said sick cows at Bhaktivedanta Manor are treated by keepers and professional vets with reiki, acupuncture and massage.