Shiv Sena condemns lynching by cow vigilantes

Condemning lynchings by cow vigilantes, the Shiv Sena said killing people in the name of cow protection was not Hindutva.

An editorial on Tuesday in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna which has party president Uddhav Thackeray as the editor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut as the executive editor, welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement against Gau rakshaks and said taking the law into one's hands was not correct. It noted that instances of friction over cow protection were on the rise in the country.

"Mob hysteria which sees people being lynched on the streets is not Hindutva," the editorial said, while calling on Modi to formulate a national policy on beef.

It also took a swipe at the BJP and noted that beef was consumed in states like Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir, where the party is in the government.

"Of course, the Prime Minister did not guide us on whether cows and their progeny must be protected in the country and the fate of non-productive cattle with farmers," the Shiv Sena said.

"The issue of beef is linked to food habits, economic turnover and employment. Hence, a national policy in this regard is needed. The question of the protection of the cow and it's progeny linked to whether we want to increase of decrease the burden on the farmers," said the editorial, adding that "those who were the protectors of the Hindus by protecting the cow have now become murderers and bogus."