New Delhi: Dalit leader and newly appointed Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister of State Ramdas Athawale has said that protection of cows should not be at the expense of human lives.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Athawale asked the Modi government, to ensure that incidents such as the flogging of Dalits in Una district of Gujarat do not repeat in the future.

Controversially, Athawale, the president of the Republican Party of India (RPI), also called on Dalits to convert to Buddhism and asked why BSP leader Mayawati was yet to do so, said the report.

Athawale attacked Mayawati, saying that despite ‘converting’ many times, she remained a Hindu. “Why is Mayawati not Buddhist yet, if she claims to be a true Ambedkarite?”, he questioned.

Athawale was quoted as saying, “I want to ask gau rakshaks: There is a law against gau hatya (killing of cows), you continue with gau raksha (protection of cows) but why do manav hatya (killing of human beings)? If you do gau raksha, who will do manav raksha (protection of human beings)?”