Shillong, Sept 28: The proposed staging of a Gau Yatra in Shillong, by those propagating a ban on cow slaughter, appear to have run into strong headwinds from the Khasi Students Union and the Hynniewtrep Youth Council whose members landed at Umroi airport on Friday to await the arrival of the yatra leader and turn him back.
The Gau Yatra leader Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Ji Maharaj was due to arrive at the Shillong Airport on Friday, but postponed it by a day. He will now land by a charter plane on Saturday.
The Shankaracharya’s National Media Coordinator Shailendra Yogiraj Sarkar on Friday informed that, “He (Avimukteshwaranand) will reach the airport at 12pm 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.”
But, on a day Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand had been due to arrive, the Umroi airport was swarmed by protestors from the KSU and HYC who sought to register their displeasure at his visit.
The protestors arrived at the airport shortly before noon, based on reports that Avimukteshwaranand would be arriving at the airport around midday. After a two hour wait, they were informed about the visit’s postponement to Saturday.
Unwilling to give any leeway to those calling for a ban on cow slaughter, HYC president Roykupar Synrem reiterated that activists of the council will return to Umroi airport on Saturday to stage another protest saying, “We will ensure their journey to Meghalaya only ends in the airport. Such people are not allowed to put feet on our land.”
“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,” reiterated the HYC chief.
“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.
