Swami Avimukteshwaranand lying about cow slaughter to spread anarchy in UP: Minister

His remark came a day after the seer asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to stop beef export from Uttar Pradesh and declare cow as Rashtra Mata to prove his commitment as a Hindu sympathiser. He also issued a challenge to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking him to stop cow slaughter in the state within 40 days to prove his commitment as a Hindu sympathiser.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Dharmpal Singh on Saturday accused Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand, of lying about cow slaughter to spread confusion and anarchy in the state under the pressure of ''masters of cow slaughter''. His remark came a day after the seer asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to stop beef export from Uttar Pradesh and declare cow as ''Rashtra Mata'' to prove his commitment as a ''Hindu sympathiser''. Speaking to reporters in Bareilly, the minister for animal husbandry and dairy development reiterated that cow slaughter and cow beef is completely banned in Uttar Pradesh. ''Only pork, buffalo meat and mutton are exported from Uttar Pradesh under the rules,'' the minister said, adding that the Adityanath government's first major decision after coming to power in 2017 was to close down illegal slaughterhouses. Today, thousands of illegal slaughterhouses are closed in the state and action is being taken against cattle smugglers under the stringent National Security Act, Singh said. The state government has not only allocated a budget, but has also started working on natural farming and biogas models to make cow shelters self-reliant, he added. Singh further said that the Adityanath government does not consider Swami Avimukteshwaranand as a Shankaracharya. ''Shankaracharya is not a government appointment or a constitutional post but a matter of monasteries and traditions. The government will not recognise any person who spreads confusion among public under the guise of a religious position. The administration's job is only to maintain peace and law and order, not to endorse any disputed religious claim,'' he said. Swami Avimukteshwaranand, who was allegedly prevented by the administration from taking a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam during Magh Mela in Prayagraj on January 18 and had been on a sit-in protest outside the Shankaracharya camp ever since, left the Magh Mela ground last Wednesday ''with a heavy heart''. ''When I sat there for 11 days, no official asked me to take a dip. Now it is too late. I will go to the Magh Mela next year and take a respectful bath,'' the seer told reporters in Varanasi on Friday. He also issued a challenge to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking him to stop cow slaughter in the state within 40 days to prove his commitment as a ''Hindu sympathiser''. ''Our credentials were asked for and we submitted them. Now you give proof of being a Hindu sympathiser,'' the seer said. ''The first step of being a Hindu is one's love for cows. Declare the cow as 'Rashtra Mata' and stop the export of cow meat from Uttar Pradesh. Then we will accept that you are a Hindu sympathiser,'' he had said.

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