Maneka Gandhi vs ISKCON: BJP MP gets ₹100 crore defamation notice over 'cow sale' remarks

livemint.com:

₹100 crore defamation notice amid controversy over her comments on the ‘sale of cows’. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has vehemently denied the allegations and said on Friday that it had sent a legal missive to the MP. Gandhi had recently gone viral for insisting that the religious organisation is the "biggest cheat in the country which sells cows from its gaushalas to butchers".

“Today, we have sent a ₹100-crore defamation notice to Maneka Gandhi for levelling completely unfounded allegations against ISKCON," vice-president Radharamn Das said in a statement. The VP of ISKCON also told ANI that the “unfortunate" comments had left devotees across the world “very hurt". An undated video had surfaced earlier this week wherein Gandhi can be heard accusing ISKCON of being the “biggest cheater in the country".

“They have several cow shelters and avail benefits from governments to run those cow shelters. They get lands and other facilities to run those cow shelters. I recently went to Anantpur Goshala (cow shelter) and I found not a single cow was dry.

In the entire dairy, there was not a single calf, which means all have been sold to butchers...They say their entire life is dependent on milk…Probably no one has sold as many cattle to butchers as they did," she can be heard saying. The organisation has repeatedly countered the claim even as netizens called for a probe into the BJP leader's remarks. “ISKCON has been at the forefront of cow and bull protection and care not just in India but globally.