ARYA JOURNALS AND COW PROTECTION [LATE NINETEENTH -MID TWENTIETH CENTURY PUNJAB]

The cow is the purest type of sub-human life. She pleads before us on behalf of the whole of the sub-human species for justice to it at the hands of man, the first among all that lives. The cow is a sacred animal in the Hindu religion. Veneration of cow increased during medieval period .The issue of cow killing was raised by swami Dayanand Sarswati and the Arya Samaj. References are there of demerits of cow killing in Arya journals. With strong efforts of Arya Samaj, the issue of cow protection became one of the most important issues of ancient nationalism. It created a rift between Hindus and Muslims. At last the movement was successful with the inclusion of the matter in Indian constitution under article 43 (part 4). Thus the network built by Arya samaj and ‘orthodox’ ascetics were increasingly used for the ‘defense of the cow’ against barbarians aggression.