'We are only saying don't eat what we consider sacred'

'Muslims and Christians should understand that the cow is sacred to us. It is not good for health. They should eat something else.'

'Our mission is cow development. We want to produce rivers of milk. The cow should be sacred among people. It should be the national animal.'

The BJP's cow protection crusader Mayankeshwar Singh speaks to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

Mayankeshwar Singh is the national convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party's cow development cell.

Last August he led a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking national legislation against cattle slaughter.

Singh, below, left, spoke to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com about his crusade to save the "sacred" cow.

When most states were not slaughtering cows but only bulls and oxen, why are you insisting on banning the slaughter of bulls and oxen too? Hindus don't worship bulls and oxen.

We are protecting cows. We want to protect nature and the environment. We are interested in the progress of villages and employment in villages. You get milk and dairy products from cows.

Cow urine and dung can be used for so many purposes. They are a solution to many problems.

Cow protection is our aim. We have said it in our election slogans.

Why have you left out the water buffalo then? Why is there no ban on buffalo meat?

The cow is sacred, the buffalo is not.

The BJP is the only political party that supports cow development.

When you say cow dung is required for bio-gas, is buffalo dung not useful for the same bio-gas?

Yes, it can be used. But my mission is cow development. We want to produce rivers of milk.

The cow should be sacred among people. It should be the national animal.

There is a Rashtriya Gokul Mission Yojana. Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) is being spent to take care of cows at the block level.

What about exports? Why are we not banning the export of beef?

Is it not wrong that you are depriving beef to Indians and killing the animals for export?

We are banning only cow slaughter. There should be no cow meat in beef exports.

It is the government's policy to allow beef exports and we are not objecting.

We are sending cattle to Bangladesh, but cows will not be allowed. We have all drunk cow's milk, we cannot kill it.

How can the State decide what people eat and what they should not eat?

We are only saying don't eat what we consider sacred. Millions of people believe this. The cow eats grass and gives us milk. People are drinking liquor and not milk.

Some of your supporters claim that pig slaughter is not allowed in Pakistan and therefore cow, ox and bull slaughter must not be allowed in India. We are a secular nation. How can you ban something which Muslims and Christians eat?

We are all human beings, Muslims and Christians included. They should understand that the cow is sacred to us. It is not good for health. They should eat something else.

With a ban on beef, don't you think other meat products like goat and chicken will become expensive and so will vegetables?

How do you plan to control inflation because there are a large number of people who eat beef and when you stop the sale of beef, those people will demand other meat items. What is the BJP doing about that?

'Muslims and Christians should understand that the cow is sacred to us. It is not good for health. They should eat something else.'

'Our mission is cow development. We want to produce rivers of milk. The cow should be sacred among people. It should be the national animal.'

The BJP's cow protection crusader Mayankeshwar Singh speaks to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

Mayankeshwar Singh is the national convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party's cow development cell.

Last August he led a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking national legislation against cattle slaughter.

Singh, below, left, spoke to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com about his crusade to save the "sacred" cow.

When most states were not slaughtering cows but only bulls and oxen, why are you insisting on banning the slaughter of bulls and oxen too? Hindus don't worship bulls and oxen.

We are protecting cows. We want to protect nature and the environment. We are interested in the progress of villages and employment in villages. You get milk and dairy products from cows.

Cow urine and dung can be used for so many purposes. They are a solution to many problems.

Cow protection is our aim. We have said it in our election slogans.

Why have you left out the water buffalo then? Why is there no ban on buffalo meat?

The cow is sacred, the buffalo is not.

The BJP is the only political party that supports cow development.

When you say cow dung is required for bio-gas, is buffalo dung not useful for the same bio-gas?

Yes, it can be used. But my mission is cow development. We want to produce rivers of milk.

The cow should be sacred among people. It should be the national animal.

There is a Rashtriya Gokul Mission Yojana. Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) is being spent to take care of cows at the block level.

What about exports? Why are we not banning the export of beef?

Is it not wrong that you are depriving beef to Indians and killing the animals for export?

We are banning only cow slaughter. There should be no cow meat in beef exports.

It is the government's policy to allow beef exports and we are not objecting.

We are sending cattle to Bangladesh, but cows will not be allowed. We have all drunk cow's milk, we cannot kill it.

How can the State decide what people eat and what they should not eat?

We are only saying don't eat what we consider sacred. Millions of people believe this. The cow eats grass and gives us milk. People are drinking liquor and not milk.

Some of your supporters claim that pig slaughter is not allowed in Pakistan and therefore cow, ox and bull slaughter must not be allowed in India. We are a secular nation. How can you ban something which Muslims and Christians eat?

We are all human beings, Muslims and Christians included. They should understand that the cow is sacred to us. It is not good for health. They should eat something else.

With a ban on beef, don't you think other meat products like goat and chicken will become expensive and so will vegetables?

How do you plan to control inflation because there are a large number of people who eat beef and when you stop the sale of beef, those people will demand other meat items. What is the BJP doing about that?