- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
The Hindu religious organisation sent a defamation notice worth Rs 100 crore (£9.8 million) to the former Indian minister who is also known to be an animal rights activist.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has sent a defamation notice worth Rs 100 crore (£9.8 million) to former Indian minister and current parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi over her allegation that the religious body sells cows to butchers for slaughter.
Calling the 67-year-old MP’s charges “completely unfounded”, the ISKCON said her remark deeply hurt the devotees.
Gandhi, who is the daughter-in-law of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, is from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime minister Narendra Modi. She is also known to be an animal rights activist.
https://twitter.com/RadharamnDas/status/1707676537728962948
Radharaman Das, vice president of ISKCON Kolkata in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal confirmed the organisation sending the notice to Gandhi.
Response to the unsubstantiated and false statements of Smt Maneka Gandhi.
ISKCON has been at the forefront of cow and bull protection and care not just in India but globally.
The cows and bulls are served for their life not sold to butchers as alleged. pic.twitter.com/GRLAe5B2n6
— Yudhistir Govinda Das (@yudhistirGD) September 26, 2023
“Today we have sent a Rs 100 crore defamation notice to Maneka Gandhi for levelling completely unfounded allegations against Iskcon. The worldwide community of Iskcon devotees, supporters, and well-wishers are deeply pained by these defamatory, slanderous, and malicious accusations. We will not leave any stone unturned in our pursuit of justice against the fallacious propaganda against Iskcon,” he was quoted as saying in an India Today report.
He also said that the parliamentarian spoke about the Anantpur Gaushala (cowshed) in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh and alleged that she was never seen visiting that particular gaushala. He asked how could one speak of a place without visiting it.
The ISKCON official also said that many leaders from Gandhi’s BJP and other parties condemned her statement.
Days ago, Gandhi was heard saying in a video that went viral that ISKCON is the “biggest cheat in the country, which sells cows from its gaushalas to butchers.”
She also accused the organisation of setting up the cowsheds and earning “unlimited benefits” from the government in the form of vast lands.
The MP also said that she recently visited the ISKCON Gaushala in Andhra Pradesh and did not find “even a single cow in good condition there”.
“There were no calves in the gaushala, which means all of them were sold off,” she alleged.
These charges were strongly denied by ISKCON earlier. It called them “unsubstantiated and false”.
