Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Pejawar mutt seer Sri Vishweshatheertha Swami, one of the most influential Hindu leaders, has urged the Narendra Modi government to legislate a law directed at the protection of cows.

He said, “Narendra Modi has won robustly. He should legislate a law in the first year itself. Those who kill cows aren’t humans, but demons. The life of a cow has become worse than that of lions and tigers.”

The leader also called for equality of all religions in the country and added that Muslims have more facilities than Hindus.

“All religions should be respected equally. We should practice harmony of religions. Muslims do have greater number of facilities compared to Hindus,” he added.

Lastly, the senior monk did not shy away from reiterating his stance for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

“BJP will get a majority in Rajya Sabha too. So Modi will have complete majority. The Ram temple should be built. In case it doesn’t happen, all monks across the country will sit together and brainstorm. But I don’t think such a situation will arise,” he added.

Pejawar seer has been in the forefront of the struggle to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The ban on beef has been a very sensitive issue over the years, with several Hindu groups vouching to save cows being taken to the abattoirs. Several deaths too have occurred in the name of cow protection.

Though the senior monk batted in favour of a cow protection law, during his first term as the PM, Modi had openly said he was angry with the so-called cow protectors.

“People who have set up shop in the name of gau raksha make me very angry. I have seen some people who do anti-social activities at night and don the garb of cow protectors in the morning. The states should prepare dossiers of such cow protectors. Seventy to 80% will be those who indulge in anti-social activities and try to hide their sins by pretending to be cow protectors,” he had said.