NEW DELHI: India’s Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has asked the Indian government to plug all loopholes that allow ‘smuggling’ of cattle through the porous border with Bangladesh.
Top RSS leaders demanded a leak-proof embargo on the cattle smuggling, at a three-day organisational Chintan Shivir meeting in New Delhi.
They said the Indian government could not make any compromise with the issue of cattle smuggling to Bangladesh.
It may be mentioned that cattle – mainly cows and buffalos – are sent in to Bangladesh under an informal understanding between the two countries and through active cooperation between traders on the two sides of the border.
The RSS leaders urged the Indian home minister, Rajnath Singh, to ensure ‘zero tolerance’ to the cattle smuggling.
The group suggested strengthening ties with Bangladesh but said it wanted the government to stop the influx of ‘illegal migrants’ through the India-Bangladesh border.
The top leadership of the RSS, in the three-day meet, reviewed how the BJP-led NDA government is working in line with the ideology and policy of the RSS.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the meeting on the third day on Friday.
This kind of coordination meeting between the ruling BJP and its ideological fountainhead RSS is held twice a year.
Moderated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, the meeting discussed the Indian government’s policies on its neighbouring countries, said sources.
Most RSS leaders welcomed Indian home minister Rajnath Singh’s efforts to lower cattle smuggling to Bangladesh but also expressed their concern as the smuggling is yet to be stopped.
Senior RSS leader Govindacharya has prepared a report on the cattle smuggling to Bangladesh, highlighting details of West Bengal areas from where the smuggling is usually done.
Several RSS leaders suggested that two BJP-ruled state governments should become more vigil so that the cattle smuggling comes to halt completely.
These leaders claimed that thousands of cattle from two Indian states, Haryana and Rajasthan are smuggled out to Bangladesh through West Bengal.
If the state governments of Haryana and Rajasthan stay alert, cattle cannot be smuggled out, the RSS leaders said.
Indian home minister Rajnath Singh on 2 February asked the BSF jawans deployed along the India-Bangladesh border to ensure a complete halt to the cattle smuggling.
The Indian minister made the directive while addressing the jawans at a Border Outpost in West Bengal’s Angrail, three days after advocating a nationwide ban on cow slaughter, reported a number of Indian media outlets.
However, Congress leader Manish Tewari raised question over RSS attempts saying that it has been proved that the Indian government’s remote control is in the hands of RSS.
