Cow protection leader to land at Shillong Airport; NGOs warn of law & order issues

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 27, 2024

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Ji Maharaj will be arriving at the Shillong Airport by charter plane on Saturday. His visit is to propagate a ban on cow slaughter.

Informing this on Friday, National Media Coordinator Shailendra Yogiraj Sarkar said, “He (Avimukteshwaranand) will reach the airport at 12 pm and install the cow flag in the morning under the Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra, demanding to declare cow as the mother of the nation and to enact a central law to stop cow slaughter.”

Earlier today, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) and the Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organization (HITO) went to the Shillong Airport at Umroi to protest against the visit of Avimukteshwaranand to Shillong for the purpose of holding the cow protection rally.

The protest was based on reports that Avimukteshwaranand would be arriving at the airport at 12 noon today (Friday). After waiting for almost two hours, the protesters were informed that the visit had been postponed to Saturday.

HYC president Roykupar Synrem said that activists of the council will again stage a protest tomorrow at the Umroi Airport, to ensure that such people are not allowed to put feet on our land.

“We will ensure their journey to Meghalaya only ends in the airport,” he said while reiterating “we will not allow them to come here and dictate on how we should live and what we should eat. As was done in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, we too, we will not allow them to step in our state.”

“If the district administration or the government allow such people to come to Shillong, we are ready to take stern action and the deputy commissioners of Ri Bhoi and East Khasi Hills along with the government led by Conrad K Sangma will have to take full responsibility in case of law and order breakdown,” Synrem warned.