Vishwesha Thirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt, Udupi, minced no words while condemning the lynching of a Muslim in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and the murder of a flower vendor and Bajrang Dal activist at Moodbidri in Karnataka, here on Tuesday.
But, he disapproved of what he called the bias of the government in dealing with the two incidents. “While the killing in Dadri became a national issue, nobody was bothered about the murder of the vendor in Moodbidri,” he told presspersons. He claimed that cow slaughter was prohibited by a Constitutional Act and therefore, the provisions of the Act must be implemented. It was not on the basis of religion.
On the claims that the Vedas had mandated killing of those who slaughtered cow, he said he had not read the article that was published in the Panchajanya. The swami said that he would go through it and comment later. “But, irrespective of religious beliefs, cow slaughter must be prevented as per the Act,” he said. He said he disapproved of religious fundamentalism, no matter which religious community pursued it.
The swami said that self-styled individuals or groups did not have the right to issue punishments for offences. “There is a system to execute punishments and no individual has the right to murder. Nobody should take law into their hands,” he said.
He was not forthcoming when his attention was drawn towards the growing incidences of heads of religious institutions allegedly indulging in illegal and unethical practices. He said he would speak only about his mutt and not others. “They should behave in a way to retain people’s faith in them,” he said.
Asked whether religious heads facing serious charges for their alleged involvement in unethical practices should be asked to step down from the ‘peetha’ like politicians who are asked to step down in similar circumstances, he said religious ‘peethas’ and official authority were two institutions. The swami said that there were allegations even against the Kanchi seer, who was eventually acquitted of all charges.
