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 goes on catering to export markets. Vinoba was pained by all this as a Bhoomiputra, who found it difficult to see that the means of livelihood was snatched away by market forces from

the poor villagers, and the Government stood inactive. More in my next letter.

With love,

Yours, L.N. Godbole

Letter $7

= 11th November,1990 My dear Pranay,

As I wrote to you last time, Vinoba was looking at Goraksha both in its emotional economic aspects. He was not looking at it from the religious sentiment of Hindu.

He said, that next to that of his mother he was brought up on the milk of the cow. He could not understand how cows could be slaughtered in India. He twice staked his life on this issue. He talked to politicians, ministers, and the prime minister and tried to convince them about it. Ban on cow slaughter is a directive principle of the Constitution. As a Gandhian, he had been brought up on the belief that Goraksha and Khadi were two major policy thrusts of the Independence movement. All those who fought for the freedom of India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had accepted this as an action point and many state governments have passed laws banning cow- slaughter. How could the state power in India be non-responsive to the People’s wishes? 2 :

' Satyagraba or fasting unto death was undertaken by Gandhiji Several times as a political pressure-point. After the declaration of the democratic republic in°1951, Vinoba was not in favour of Satyagraba ox fasting for evey political or social demand. In fact,

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