Narendra Modi said, “Our country has many such people (animal lovers), and the unique thing is most of them do not consider the cow as an animal.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at animal rights activists on Friday, during an event at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan to highlight what he called their selective concern for animals.
“Recently, I met some animal lovers,” Modi said, pausing as the audience broke into laughter. He then added: “Why are you laughing? Our country has many such people (animal lovers), and the unique thing is most of them do not consider the cow as an animal.” The remark drew laughter from the gathering, including union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The Prime Minister’s comment came against the backdrop of intense debate over a Supreme Court directive to civic bodies in Delhi-NCR ordering blanket removal of stray dogs from the streets and confining them to shelters.
The Prime Minister himself has often been seen engaging with cows, with images of him feeding and caressing them during festivals going viral in recent years. Notably, cows are considered sacred in Hinduism and worshipped as ‘Gau Mata’.
Modi’s record on cow protection
Since 2014, the Modi government has launched several initiatives for cow protection, including the establishment of the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) in 2019.
The RKA, which functions under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was established with the mandate of “conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny.”
Supreme Court on stray dogs
The Supreme Court’s two-judge bench in a August 11 order directed civic authorities to capture all strays from Delhi NCR and relocate them permanently, citing rising dog-bite and rabies cases. The order sparked massive outrage from activists and celebrities, who raised concerns about the welfare of the animals in shelters.
In response, chief justice DY Chandrachud reassigned the matter to a three-judge bench, which modified the order. The court ruled that stray dogs should be sterilised, vaccinated, dewormed, and then released back into the same areas, except in cases of rabies or aggression.
