Allahabad High Court on Wednesday while denying bail to Javed said Cow should be declared as the national animal of India. The Court also said that cow protection should be made a fundamental right of Hindus.
Javed has been accused of slaughtering a cow. He was charged with the offense under Section 379 of IPC (Punishment of Theft) and Sections 3, 5, 8 of the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act in Uttar Pradesh.
The cow is part and parcel of the culture of India and should be declared national animal, the Allahabad High Court said.
The Court said, “The government will also have to bring a bill in the Parliament and declare the cow as the national animal and make strict laws against those who talk about harming cows/ Laws should come for those also who talk about cow protection by making cowsheds, etc., but they have nothing to do with cow protection, their only aim is to earn money in the name of cow protection.”
Single judge, Justice Shekhar Yadav, while denying the bail to Javed said that Javed after stealing the cow, he beheaded it and killed it, and also kept its meat along with him.
The Court said, “This is not the first offense of the applicant, even before this offense, he had committed cow slaughter, which had disturbed the harmony of the society.”
The Court further added that if they will approve the bail of the applicant, he will commit the same offense again.
The Court noted, “We know that when a country’s culture and its faith gets hurt, the country becomes weak.”
As per reports, the court said that the right to life is above the right to kill, and ‘the right to eat beef can never be a fundamental right’.
The High Court also noted, “The cow is useful even when she is old and sick, and her dung and urine are very useful for agriculture, making of medicines, and most of all, the one who is worshiped as a mother, even if she gets old or sick. No one can be given the right to kill her.”
The Court proceeded to deny bail to Javed and stated that “In such a situation, when everyone takes a step forward to unite India and support its faith, then some people whose faith and belief are not at all in the interest of the country, they only weaken the country by talking like this in the country. In view of the above circumstances, prima facie offense is proved to be committed against the applicant.”
It further noted that it is not that only Hindus have understood the importance of cows, Muslims have also considered the cow as an important part of India’s culture during their reign, Slaughter of cows was banned by 5 Muslim rulers. Babur, Humayun, and Akbar also prohibited the sacrifice of cows in their religious festivals.
The Court while talking about the functioning of gau-shalas said, “It is very painful to see that sometimes, those who talk about cow protection and prosperity, become cow-eaters. The government also gets the cowshed constructed, but the people who have been entrusted to take care of the cows, do not take care of the cow. There are many such examples, where the cows die due to hunger and disease in the cowshed. They are kept amidst the filth. In the absence of food, the cow eats polythene and as a result, dies after getting sick.”
The Country will be safe, only when there would be the welfare of cows, and then only, the Country would prosper, the Court said.
The Court also added that cow protection and promotion aren’t about any one religion, but the cow is the culture of India, and saving the culture is the duty of every citizen living in the country, irrespective of their religion.