BJP MP Maneka Gandhi has made a big allegation against the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
She has said that ISKCON is the “biggest fraud” in the country because it sells cows from its cow shelters to butchers. ISKCON has termed the allegations made by the BJP MP as “meaningless and false”.
It is noteworthy that former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has been continuously vocal on social media on animal protection issues.
In a video that went viral, she is heard saying that ISKCON is the biggest fraudster in the country. It receives benefits from the government including vast lands in the name of maintenance of cow shelters. But it sells cows from cowsheds to butchers.
She said that I had gone to Anantapur Gaushala of ISKCON in Andhra Pradesh. Where I saw that there was no cow which did not give milk or give birth to calves. There was not a single dry cow in the entire dairy. There was not even a single calf. This means that all were sold.
Gandhi said that ISKCON sells all its cows to butchers. She said that there have been claims from ISKCON that no one does as much as they do. And they sing ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’ on the streets. Then they say that their entire life depends on milk. But perhaps, no one has sold as many cattle to butchers as it has.
Rejecting the allegations, ISKCON national spokesperson Yudhishthir Govinda Das said the religious body has been at the forefront in the protection and care of cows and bulls not only in India but globally. He said that the allegation that cows and bulls are cared for throughout their lives and not sold to butchers is absolutely false.
A statement shared by ISKCON said that ISKCON has pioneered cow conservation in many parts of the world, where beef is a staple diet. ISKCON is working in those places also. The statement said that Mrs. Gandhi is a well-known animal rights activist and well-wisher of ISKCON, hence we are surprised by these statements.
ISKCON has hundreds of temples and millions of devotees around the world. A few months ago, ISKCON came into limelight when one of its monks criticized Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
The religious body had immediately “banned” monk Amogh Leela Das and sent him for penance after his comments created a major controversy.
