India: ISKCON sues Maneka Gandhi over ‘biggest cheat,’ ‘selling cows to butchers’ remark

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Friday (Sep 29), filed a $1.2 million (Rs 100 crore) defamation notice to Indian lawmaker Maneka Gandhi from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This comes days after she was allegedly heard calling the religious organisation the “biggest cheat” and accused the organisation of selling cows from their gaushalas (cowsheds) to butchers.

“The biggest cheat in India today is ISKCON. They establish gaushalas for which they get unlimited benefits from the government to run them. They get huge land…everything. I just visited their Anantput Gaushala. Not a single dry cow is present. All are dairies. There is not a single calf. It means all of them were sold. ISCKON is selling all its cows to the butcher,” Maneka Gandhi can be heard saying in the video.

ISKCON Vice President Radharamn Das said that the religious organisation will legally pursue the case against the former Union minister till the end, adding that the Indian lawmaker’s comments were unfortunate and hurt the sentiments of ISKCON devotees, supporters, and well-wishers across the world.

He added, “How could an MP who was a former minister lie about ISKCON without any evidence? She said she went to Anantpur gaushala, but people there can’t remember Maneka Gandhi visiting there. So sitting at home, she is making these baseless allegations.”

This also comes days after ISKCON, in response to the viral video, ISKCON refuted Maneka Gandhi’s claims, and deemed them “unsubstantiated” and “false”.

ISKCON spokesperson, Yudhistir Govinda Das, asserted the religious organisation’s commitment to cow and bull protection, claiming that these animals are not sold to butchers.

“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,” Yudhistir Govinda Das wrote on X.

“ISKCON has pioneered cow protection in many parts of the world where beef is a staple diet. Within India, ISKCON runs more than 60 gaushalas protecting hundreds of sacred cows and bulls and providing personalised care for their entire lifetime. Many of the cows presently served in ISCKON’s gaushalas were brought to us after being found abandoned, injured, or rescued from being slaughtered,” the statement added.

Maneka Gandhi, an animal rights activist, is the elder daughter-in-law of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi but has not been associated with the Congress party. Her political career has been associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party since 1999.

The 67-year-old former journalist is a member of India’s lower house of parliament, Lok Sabha, from the Sultanpur constituency in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

(With inputs from agencies)