31st May, 2017
Hundreds of people protested in south India on Wednesday over the federal government’s recent restrictions on the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, widely seen as a political move that would alienate the country’s religious minorities.
The government rules, reported on the weekend, mandate that livestock markets will only be able to trade in cattle meant for agricultural purposes.
Cattle for slaughter will have to be brought from farmers directly, the government said, defining cattle as bulls, cows, buffalo, steers, heifers, calves and camels.
Cows are considered sacred by the country’s majority Hindu population.
The move by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist party, is seen as protecting cows.
However, it is enraging residents in several states in India’s south and north-east, where beef is part of the local cuisine and is consumed by Muslims, Christians as well as several Hindus.
People there have opposed the rules, saying they will go ahead with the slaughter of bovines.
In Tamil Nadu state, activists from the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazagham party and students groups staged protests at various places in the main city of Chennai.
Students at the Indian Institute of Technology also held demonstrations after a research scholar was beaten for organizing a “beef-fest,” where beef was cooked and served in protest.
The protests were held even as the state high court ordered a suspension of rules, after a petition which said the rules violated an individual’s right to choose his food and hurt cattle and meat traders.
The government insists the regulations do not amount to a ban and are meant to prevent “uncontrolled and unregulated animal trade.”
The industry ministry said the move will shrink supplies to livestock markets hitting beef and leather exports, eventually hurting the Muslim community who are mainly engaged in the trade.