Call for adopting vegetarianism

Tirupati, Dec 3: Ahinsa does not mean merely not killing but 'causing the least suffering' to living beings, CARTMAN Director N S Rama Swamy said here.

Talking to to newspersons yesterday, the Padma Bhushan awardee said ''we are against meat, slaughter of animals for meat and export of meat.'' He said 30 per cent of countrymen were vegetarians and added that there were movements in the Western countries towards vegetarianism as it meat was found to be a ''health hazard.'' Mr Swamy said long term initiatives were required to propagate vegetarianism and to inculcate its economic, ecological, cultural, health and humanistic implications.

He said the cattle were put to a lot of hardship while being transported to other regions.

The Government should set up a Meat Board he said adding five million cattle heads were becoming non-productive every year.

Kerala Animal Lovers Association Secretary A V Krishnan said the state was importing 25,000 heads of cattle from other states for food daily.

He said Kerala was the only state in the south which did not pass a law banning slaughter of cows.

UNI