A national conference on ”Cow Based Agriculture, Health and Environment” was recently organized by the Gujarat Government. A first of its kind, it was held in prestigious Anand University and was attended by senior ministers, government officials, top scientists, religious leaders, university vice-chancellors, environmentalists, doctors, and cow protection activists.

In the inaugural address, Dr Vallabh Bhai Katiria, a senior politician and chairman of Goseva Ayog, read out Srila Prabhupada’s statement from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.29:

“Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed.”

Then he went on to read the complete preface of the book “Capitalism Communism And Cowism – A New Economics For The 21st Century” and reaffirmed the Gujarat Government’s commitment to the vision specified therein.

“The world is in search of an economic system that works for the people and the Planet. And this search has been going on for the last one hundred years without much success. “

“Industrial revolution started with capitalism but the communist revolution overthrew it in many places. Socialism was proposed as a viable alternative but it collapsed before too long. Capitalism in its various forms and shapes is still running but every now and then it runs into serious difficulties. One such difficulty has come in the form of U.S. credit downgrade.”

“Endless debate is going on whether S&P, the rating agency, was justified in stripping America of its AAA rating and — adding insult to injury — even attaching a negative outlook to the new AA+ rating. But this historic action has now taken place, and the global system must adjust. There are consequences and there will be uncertainties.”

“Not so long ago, it was deemed unthinkable that America could lose its AAA. Indeed, “risk free” and “US Treasuries” were interchangeable terms — so much so that the global financial system was constructed, and has operated on the assumption that America’s AAA was a constant at the core, and not a variable. But this notion has been proven wrong. “

“So what is the solution when nothing seems to be working? To search out a suitable economic system we need not go very far. We just have to look back in our not so distant past. For thousands of years, humanity has been sustained by an economic system which was in perfect harmony with our environment, internal and external. This model was based on land, domesticated animals and other gifts of nature. This was a completely localized, decentralized, self-sufficient and nature dependent model, based on the concept of ‘plain living and high thinking’. “

“We may like it or not, but our time and options are running out. Our present economic paradigms are leading us fast on the path of self-annihilation.”

In this two day conference, many interesting presentations were made and many papers were presented. Basu Ghosh Das from Baroda also participated in the event.

Gujarat is the most progressive state in India. Now, cow killing is a punishable offense with 7-14 years imprisonment in Gujarat. Government machinery has been mobilized to preserve indigenous breeds, open cow shelters, conduct research in cow related sciences. Philosophy of cow protection is being included in school text books as a mandatory subject. Even there are eye cataract operations for old cows. Fifteen beef detection mobile laboratories patrol the state highways round the clock, checking on trucks coming from down South and heading towards Mumbai port. If beef is found, the consignment is seized and immediate arrests are made. Hundreds of sets of our books are being distributed to senior politicians and bureaucrats in Ahmedabad (the state capital) and Delhi.