People who eat beef as 'status symbol' should be hanged: Sadhvi Saraswati

Amid a row over the issue of cow slaughter and consumption of beef, Sadhvi Saraswati from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara has stoked a controversy saying, people who eat beef as 'status symbol' should be hanged.

Sadhvi Saraswati made the remarks at the inauguration of a four-day All India Hindu Convention held at Ramnathi in Goa, organised by the Hindu Janajagriti Samiti, reported Indian Express.

“I request the government to hang those who eat beef as 'status symbol'... They should be hanged in a full public view (Jo vyakti apne ma (gau mata) ka maas khaane ko apna status symbol maanta hai, aisi vyaktiyon ko Bharat sarkar se nivedan karti hoon, phaansi pe latkana chahiye. beech chaurahey pe latkana chahiye)," said Sadhvi.

She further went on to say that only then people will understand that cow protection is our responsibility.

Sadhvi reportedly also urged Hindus to stock arms at home to 'save our women from love jihad'.

Meanwhile, the convention also slammed the BJP for its double standards on issues like cow slaughter.

“These people came to power invoking gau-mata, now they have forgotten her. These people promised protection to cow. Now they speak in two voices,” Abhay Vartak, national spokesperson of Sanatan Sanstha, said.

He also took on the Goa BJP for defending beef eating. “In Goa, BJP says beef is a food habit. A CM from another state says he eats beef. This party propagated ‘one nation, one symbol’ once. Now they have become ‘one party, two thoughts’,” Vartak said.

Two days ago, Tarun Vijay, a former editor of an RSS-affiliated weekly, said eating habits of North Indians cannot be imposed across the country.

In a write-up published in the 'Panchjanya', a pro-RSS journal, he also asked cow protection groups to read the likes of Swami Vivekananda and V D Savarkar to understand that the habits of people living in North India cannot be imposed across the country.