Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday claimed that nurturing cows diminishes the “criminal mindset”, PTI reported.

“Cow is the mother of universe....it nurtures soil, it nurtures animals, birds and it also nurtures humans and protects them from diseases and makes the human heart as tender as flower,” he said at an event organised by the Go-Vigyan Sanshodhan Sanshtha, which focuses on “cow science”.

“When jails set up cow sheds and prisoners started rearing cows, the authorities saw that the criminal mindset of these prisoners started diminishing, and I am telling you this from experiences shared by some jail authorities,” he said.

The RSS chief added that the society must come together to conserve cows and that people must be told the importance of Indian breeds, but in a scientific way.

This is not the first time the RSS leader has made controversial remarks. In his Vijayadashami speech on October 8, Bhagwat had claimed that lynching was a western concept. Certain episodes of “social violence” were called lynching to defame the country and the Hindu society and cause fear among a few communities, he had claimed.