Shiv Sena likens cows to national anthem, says both are in pitiable condition

Sena mouthpiece asked if the top court was siding with Centre over certain matters including the national anthem.

Cows like our national anthem are in pitiable condition, said the editorial in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna and lashed out at Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for not banning beef in the state. Parrikar had said on Wednesday that anybody interfering in the legal import of beef into Goa would be punished.

"Cow protectors are patriots while those who eat its skin, that is, beef are anti-national, it was emphatically said during this time. But yesterday, the Chief Minister of BJP-ruled Goa boldly said that beef was not banned in the state. That is why cows like our national anthem are also in a pitiable condition," the article in Saamna said.

The article further took a strong exception to the Supreme Court order which made the playing of the national anthem in cinema halls before the screening of films optional. It said that the same apex court had last year made it compulsory. Sena mouthpiece asked if the top court was siding with Centre over certain matters including the national anthem.

"On one hand, loud nationalistic cries are heard against triple talaq, and at the same time, the government has shown laxity in concern of the national anthem," it said.

The beef traders called off their four-day-long strike yesterday, citing assurance by the police that they would not allow harassment of dealers who import beef from Belagavi in Karnataka at the state border. The strike had created a scarcity of beef in Goa. The traders resorted to the protest after Gau Raksha Abhiyaan, an NGO, had allegedly targeted trucks carrying beef from Karnataka, claiming that animals are slaughtered in illegal slaughterhouses across the state border.

The article in Saamna seemed to link two separate issues and tried to portray that nationalism was taking a beating under the current BJP-led regime.

OneIndia News