jaipur

Updated: Jul 16, 2017 20:08 IST

In times of cow vigilantism and lynchings, a Muslim filmmaker adopted a cow and a calf and performed house warming rituals for the animals at his home in Kota on Sunday.

Sarosh Khan, who is from Kota but lives in Mumbai, tried to send a message to the society against violence in the name of the cow. Wearing a skull cap and Pathani suit, he performed Hindu rituals and put vermilion on the head of the bovines at his home in Vigyan Nagar.

“Islam does not preach hate against Hindus or any other religions. Everyone should respect each other and end violence in the name of cows,” said Khan, who has produced and acted in several Hindi and Rajasthani films, including Payback, Kota Junction and Bhanwari.

Khan, who has bought a Gir cow and calf for Rs 50,000 said that fake cow vigilantes are carrying out violence in the name of cow protection. “So I decided to adopt cows and rear them in my house to convey a message to the society that Muslims too love cows. If my initiative can end violence in the name of cows, I will be satisfied,” he said.

He also appealed to cow vigilantes to adopt stray cattle if they really consider cows as their “mother”.

Assistant professor of Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University (JRRSU) Shastri Kosalendradas performed the Hindu rituals. “I have performed house warming of cows for Hindus in the past as well, but it is for the first time that a Muslim has performed such a ceremony,” said Kosalendradas.

He added that the Vedas assert that cows are not the “mother” of a particular community or any country but is the mother of the entire world and its inhabitants.

“The attempt being made by Sarosh, to adopt cows through Hindu rituals, is an effort to strengthen ties between Hindus and Muslims,” said former director of the JRRSU, Dr Rajendra Tiwari, who also was present at the venue.

Several Hindu friends of Sarosh were also present at the ceremony.