File photo of Home Minister Rajnath Singh
The NDA government will try its "level best" to bring in a countrywide ban on slaughter of cows by evolving a consensus, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said.
"Cow slaughter cannot be accepted in this country. We will make all-out efforts to ban slaughter of cows and will also try hard to have a consensus for this purpose," he told a gathering of spiritual leaders of Shwetambar Jains, a prominent sect of Jainism.
Referring to the cow slaughter ban in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the senior BJP leader said nobody should doubt the government's commitment to prevent slaughter of cows.
"Nobody can question our commitment to ban slaughter of cows. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has enacted a tough law for this purpose so has the Maharashtra government. We didn't spare time to send a bill passed by Maharashtra government to President for his assent," Mr Singh said referring to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act which also extends the ban on slaughter of bulls and bullocks.
On the occasion, Acharya Shivmuni wanted the Centre to bring in a legislation in the current Budget Session for banning slaughter of buffaloes besides cows.
To this, Mr Singh said the government needs to have an absolute majority in both Houses of Parliament to enforce complete ban on slaughter of cows.
"You must be reading in newspapers how the government has to struggle to get various bills passed in Parliament," he said.
The BJP has a minority in Rajya Sabha.
Mr Singh recalled that when he was Agriculture Minister in 2003, his ministry had prepared a bill for the total ban of slaughter of cows.
"But the moment I rose to present it (bill) in Parliament, uproar was created. That is why we couldn't get the bill passed," he said.
Describing Jainism as the "gem" of Indian culture, he said, "The entire world is affected by the scourge of terrorism, origin of which lies in the mentality of violence. And this mentality can be fought with the teachings of Jainism."
Citing CERN's 2012 experiment on "God Particle", Mr Singh said it showed scientists have now started believing in Jainism's theory of creation of world from a basic particle called 'Pudgal'.
Speaking at the event, senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal requested the Centre to enact a tough law to ban cow slaughtering nation-wide.
"There is no cow slaughter prohibition law in many states of India. The Central government should soon bring in a cow slaughter prohibition bill to ban the practice (cow slaughtering) across the country," Mr Singhal said.
He said Mahatma Gandhi had also longed for a law for protection of cows.