VHP leader Praveen Togadia and Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi at a Virat Hindu Sammelan. —Aadesh Pokhare
In a bid to stop cow slaughter in the country, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia appealed to the masses to use products containing cow dung and urine.
Mr Togadia was speaking at a Virat Hindu Sammelan held at Bandra-Kurla Complex on Sunday, where he not only advertised products such as shampoo, soap and incense sticks, but also told the crowd to buy them.
Mr Togadia was marketing the products reportedly to stop cow slaughter and provide some revenue to farmers, who otherwise sell the animals to slaughter houses.
“If we use the products, the farmers will get `200 per litre of cow urine and the same amount for one kg of cow dung. Why would the farmers then give the cows up for slaughtering? We must save the cows,” he said.
VHP has come up with cosmetic products containing the dung and urine of cows rescued from being slaughtered.
A large crowd had gathered for the leaders of the Hindu group. A seemingly over-enthusiastic Maharaj even said, “Russia was a Hindu nation because Rishi-Raj (Rishi ruled) there.”
Another leader said, “We should not only bring back those converted from Hinduism back into the fold, but should also convert those in Pakistan.”
One of the speakers, advocate Poornima Advani, who was invited to talk on the work VHP was doing for the upliftment of women, however, expressed regret that she had to choose this topic. “It is worrisome that we have to discuss the honour of women,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon a brief period of tension was created at Sion when Bajrang Dal activists going to BKC to attend the programme came across a Muslim procession for Muharram.
The police stopped the Bajrang Dal activists and allowed the Muslim procession to pass first. Some of the Bajrang Dal activists riding on bikes tried to break the police chain to intrude into the procession, but were unsuccessful.
The police somehow managed to let both the processions pass without any untoward incident.