‘Already our mother’: Adityanath opposes Muslim clerics’ demand to declare cow as national animal

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Monday opposed demands made by Muslim clerics that the cow be declared the national animal, saying that the “cow is our mother”.

At an event in Bijnor, Adityanath said that he had “come to know that some maulvis and maulanas” have demanded that cows be declared a national animal.

“The cow is already our mother and our bond with the cow spans several lifetimes,” he said. “No formal declaration is required to define the relationship between a mother and her child.”

“Gaumata [Mother Cow] is a self-proclaimed national mother, and doesn’t need to be declared as the national mother,” he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader described the demand as “double standards”, alleging that some people support cow slaughter while demanding national animal status for cows.

He also warned that the government would take action against anybody who slaughters cows.

गोमाता तो स्वघोषित 'राष्ट्रमाता' हैं, किसी को घोषित करने की आवश्यकता नहीं है... pic.twitter.com/89SD81i8qz— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) June 1, 2026

The comments came weeks after several Muslim organisations and leaders on May 24 supported a demand made by Maulana Arshad Madani, the president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (Arshad Madani faction), to declare the cow as the national animal.

This would help stop the issue of cow slaughter from being exploited politically, the organisations said.

The demand...

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