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29 May 2017
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Cattle (The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions)
A new ban imposed by India's government on the sale of cows and
buffaloes for slaughter to protect animals considered holy by many Hindus is
drawing widespread protests from state governments and animal-related
industries. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
Many state governments criticized the ban as
a blow to beef and leather exports that will leave hundreds of thousands
jobless and deprive millions of Christians, Muslims and poor Hindus of a cheap
source of protein. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
The rules, which took effect Friday, require
that cattle traders pledge that any cows or buffalos sold are not intended for
slaughter. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
At least one state government is planning a
challenge in court. Some have said the ban infringes on states' commercial
autonomy and are calling for a nationwide protest.
Others say the ban will hurt farmers who will
be forced to continue feeding aged animals, and that millions of unproductive
cattle will be turned out on the streets.
The new rules also propose the setting up of
a vast animal monitoring bureaucracy, including animal inspectors and
veterinarians, to ensure the rules are followed. Traditionally, cattle fairs
and markets allow the sale of animals headed to abattoirs to provide raw
materials used in dozens of industries, including leather making, soap and
fertilizer. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
The state governments have appealed to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the order, which they say was issued without
consultations with them. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has been pushing a Hindu
nationalist agenda since it came to power in 2014.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the top
elected official in southern Kerala state, wrote to Modi on Sunday describing
the restrictions as a "drastic move" that would have
"far-reaching consequences and would be detrimental to democracy." The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
He said the move amounts to "an
intrusion into the rights of the states" in India's federal structure and
violates the principles of the Indian Constitution.
The government of West Bengal state also
protested the move, saying the Modi government cannot make such decisions
unilaterally. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state
would not accept the imposition of such restrictions on its commercial
authority. She described it as a step by the Modi government to "destroy
the federal structure of the country." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"We won't accept the decision. It is
unconstitutional. We will challenge it legally," Banerjee told reporters
Monday. The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
Hindus, who form 80 percent of India's 1.3
billion people, consider cows to be sacred, and for many eating beef is taboo.
In many Indian states, the slaughtering of cows and selling of beef is either
restricted or banned. India has the highest number of vegetarians in the world
as a result of Hinduism's predominance, although not all Hindus are
vegetarians.
While the eating of beef is not a crime in
many states, slaughtering a cow carries a punishment of up to seven years in
jail throughout the country. In Gujarat state, lawmakers have approved a bill
increasing the punishment for killing a cow to life imprisonment.
Critics say the new rules, ostensibly to
protect the way animals are treated and transported, are in keeping with
demands of Hindu nationalists, who have long been pressing for a nationwide ban
on the sale of beef. The past two years have also seen a rise in vigilante
attacks on Muslims and lower caste Hindus involved in the cattle trade. Several
deaths have occurred.
On Monday, police arrested seven people on
suspicion of assaulting two Muslim men who were transporting meat in western
Maharashtra state. The men were beaten and forced to chant Hindu slogans by a
vigilante group on Sunday, police said.
Meanwhile, leather and meat industry groups
said the ban could push them out of business.
Fauzan Alavi of the All India Meat and
Livestock Exporters Association said beef exports, which had been growing
rapidly, have already been affected. "Such a drastic move is bound to hit
the industry," Alavi said Sunday. The
Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
The government "has handed a death
certificate to us," said Ramesh K. Juneja of the Council of Leather
Exports.The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
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