Ban on cow slaughter evokes protests in Indian northeast

A notification issued by the Indian government to suppress the trade in cows for slaughter has evoked vehement opposition in Northeast Indian states including Meghalaya and Tripura, with the move severely disrupting the livestock supply chain at the heart of rural economy. On May 23, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules-2017 to protect cows, an animal that conservative Hindus regard as sacred. In reaction to the ban, the government of Meghalaya has recently brought a resolution in State Legislative Assembly, asking the Centre to immediately retract it. Cutting across political lines, all members of the Assembly supported the resolution tabled by Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. While moving the resolution, Sangma said the notification had serious shortcomings and would adversely affect the economy and culture of Meghalaya. “The House takes strong note of the shortcomings and infirmities in these rules as notified and resolves that the same may be withdrawn by the government of India with immediate effect so as to maintain the federal and secular character of our constitution,” according to the resolution. It said that the notification "travels way beyond the scope and object as set out in the Preamble of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960," thus infringing on the rights of the states to regulate the items listed in the State List (List-II of VII Schedule to the Constitution of India).” Rule 8 of the Centre’s notification that prohibits construction of animal markets in a place which is situated within 25km from any state border or within 50km from any international border will affect Meghalaya because it shares a 443km-long international border with Bangladesh and a nearly 800km long inter-state border with Assam, Sangma said. Tripura shares an 856km long international border with Bangladesh.

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Singing the same tune, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and CPI-(M) State Secretary Bijan Dhar, too, opposed the ban. Farmers who depend on cattle for their livelihoods will be adversely affected, and so will the cattle skin and leather industries, which contribute about Rs40,000 crore, said Bijan Dhar. He also said: “India earns Rs27,000 crore a year as profit from the sale of beef, and the ban will have a direct impact on the country’s farming class. “It is an attack on people’s food habits. After demonetisation, the ban is a second major attack on the poor.” Striking a similar note, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar took a jab at the union government for banning beef consumption at a function in Agartala Press club. “Violence has been unleashed in the name of religion for the past three years.  There is only one religion, and that is humanity. And this religion can be practiced by standing by the needy. Food habits are individual decisions,” Sarkar said without a direct reference to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In this photograph taken on April 24, 2017, a statue of the Hindu god Lord Krishna is seen at a cow shelter in the Indian capital New Delhi AFP Protests against ban Protesting the controversial ban imposed by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the youth wing of India’s main opposition Congress party caused outrage on May 29, after killing a calf in public, reported AFP. Members of Youth Congress were filmed slaughtering the animal and chanting anti-government slogans in the southern state of Kerala. Though cow slaughter and consumption of beef are banned in most Indian states, Kerala and a handful of other states allow them.  

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The protesters were accused of causing a public nuisance because the slaughter of animals in public places is illegal, said Deputy Police Superintendent PP Sadanandan. A senior BJP leader in Meghalaya said the ban would not be enforced in the state, while the chief minister of West Bengal declared the ruling “undemocratic,” reported the Press Trust of India. In some parts of India, vigilantes attacked those suspected to be transporting the animals to abattoirs. Also on May 29, Hindu hardliners assaulted two meat traders in Maharashtra for alleged possession of beef despite it being legal under that state’s laws. Cow slaughter is a powder-keg issue in the country, and even a rumour can trigger a widespread communal violence. In April, a Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob after they discovered cows in his truck. The man was a farmer transporting dairy cows.