A gowshala and its caretaker in Telangana became the victim of the highhandedness of one Konda Buchi Reddy who was allegedly supported by BRS (new official name for TRS) MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy and his goons.

Kamadhenu Gowshala and Foundation

The Kamadhenu Gowshala and Foundation (website) is located in Telangana’s Mokila. It is a registered organization (Trust Registration: 5/BK-IV/2021 of Telangana State) that serves as home to 750 cows and calves. It was started by Shri Srinivas in September 2018 with his personal funds. Since then several cows and calves have been rescued.

“He Leased a total of 3.5 Acres of land, 2.5 Acres of Land for 10 Years, and 1 Acre of Land for 5 years, on the condition that Srinivas would develop the land, build the infrastructure and upon Competition of the Lease period, Will leave behind the infrastructure as Compensation for using the Land, it Cost Srinivas About 2.25Cr for developing the land (Levelling, Building of Cowsheds, Residences for Staff, Borewells, Water Pumps, Fencing, Etc). Srinivas kept Rescuing Cows that were barren, old or past their peak milk-yielding age, by purchasing them & Around 60 Cows were brought to Gowshala after being rescued by MLA Tiger Raja Singh”, the Gowshala informed HinduPost.

The Covid crisis brought its own set of problems as Shri Srinivas suffered financial and other troubles. Subsequently, the Gowshala was converted to a Registered Trust in June 2021 by the family that took over and ran the Gowshala from June 2020 to June 2021. Two elderly ladies of the family and a family friend became trustees of the trust.

Gowshala continued seva and rescue operations and care for desi cows through public support and donations. Kamadhenu Foundation rescued 231 cows from going to slaughter since being registered as a trust.

“As barren or elderly Cows again became mothers due to proper Rehabilitation, and due to the Rescue missions, Gow Santati has increased to 750. As all the Cows were Rescued & Rehabilitated, even though Cows again became mothers, their milk yield was not much and just enough for the Calves, So, Not a drop of milk was sold, and everything was left for the calves”, the Foundation informed HinduPost.

Konda Buchi Reddy’s harassment

Around this time the Gowshala’s troubles with Konda Buchi Reddy began. Reddy is the landlord’s father who wanted to usurp the Gowshala. Reddy and his goons started harassing, threatening, and physically assaulting Gaushala staff and regularly trespassing on the Gaushala premises. Reddy’s goons stole CCTV hard disk to hide their crimes.

The foundation had to seek the intervention of the Telangana High Court to file an FIR against Reddy and his goons because the local authorities refused to help. Two Civil suits were filed for the protection of tenancy rights & are pending in Chevella court for consideration to grant an injunction (OS142/2020 & OS 308/2020).

However, despite the legal action, Reddy’s harassment has not stopped. Here’s a sequence of events that unfolded before the attack earlier this month:

1) On 12 Jan 2023, Reddy brought along someone from the Animal Husbandry Department for an inspection. A malicious one-sided report was written. Kamadhenu Gowshala was not given a chance to provide their input during the inspection, and a bunch of malicious assumptions and false information was written into the report, despite the Foundation showing dated documents, bills, and videos contradicting their claims. The Foundation’s attempt to present their side to the Collector, to whom the report was submitted, yielded no result.

2) On 17 June 2023, Konda Buchi Reddy trespassed into Gowshala with someone with the intent to poison the cows. Upon calling the police, they fled the scene.

3) On 03 July 2023, the Gowshala Trust heard some rumours that Buchi Reddy was planning on usurping Gowshala with the Collector’s help. They mailed the collector, requesting not to take any cohesive action without hearing their side or taking note of their evidence, and mentioned that the Foundation had not received any notice.

4) On 05 July 2023, Konda Buchi Reddy along with MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy and his goons, trespassed into the Gowshala to conduct a recce.

5) Reddy arrived with 50 goons on 6 July at 6 in the morning. He trespassed into the gaushala shielded by 25 policemen. CCTV cameras were disconnected and destroyed. The staff numbering 30 were held hostage and threatened, their mobiles were snatched away, and they were chased away from the Gowshala.

“Drinking water troughs and shade for the cows were demolished. Police formed a 500m perimeter around Gowshala and none of us were allowed to even approach Gowshala, and no one answered our pleas for details or explanation. Our Panditji Seshkant Mishra (Sanskrit Scholar) was brutalised by the goons. Gowshala is still under siege & no one from the Gowshala is allowed to even go near, we don’t have first-hand information but have Learnt from locals that Cows were taken away”, a gaushala member told HinduPost.

Despite having all documents in order, the Kamadhenu Foundation is being harassed by a goon who wants to usurp their land. What’s worse is even a Telangana HC order hasn’t deterred Reddy who is probably banking on his political support. It is only public support that can help organizations such as Kamadhenu that are working to save gaumatas.

Since publishing this article we have received information raising questions regarding the Gowshala foundation. Though we have been unable to verify the veracity of the claim individually, in the interest of being fair we are putting out the tweet that alerted us regarding the foundation.

Update

This article was updated at 2.05 PM on 20/07/2023 on the basis of information drawing our attention regarding the foundation. Readers are advised to take note of the same.