India, June 2 -- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday hit out at Muslim clerics and organisations for demanding that the cow be declared the national animal, saying the cow is revered as "mother" in the Sanatan tradition and is "not an animal for us".

"Your thinking is animal-like if you describe Gau Mata as an animal," Adityanath said while addressing an event here.

"The cow is our mother. She is not merely an animal. Your mindset is animalistic if you call our Gau Mata an animal.... Gau Mata is our 'Rashtra Mata'. It does not require any formal declaration... just as we respect our own mother... and the Ganga," he said.

The chief minister referred to recent demands by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Mad...