Centre restricts cow slaughter, receives backlash from Pinarayi Vijayan, meat traders

New Delhi: Various bodies and political parties reacted sharply to the government’s decision to ban the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, saying it is an “ill advised” decision which will widen the “terrorism” by cow vigilantes. [caption id=“attachment_3480025” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Pinarayi Vijayan. PTI[/caption] While Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked whether the Centre will ban the consumption of fish tomorrow, another minister in his cabinet termed the decision as against the Constitution. Others said it will give rise to unemployment while VHP demanded a law to completely ban cow slaughter and life imprisonment for such acts. The All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association claimed the government’s decision will eventually hit the farmers. “It is the unproductive cattle, which arrives in large number for sale in these markets, as their feasibility virtually cease to exist, while the per day maintenance cost goes up. “The high yielding milching animals rarely arrive at the cattle market for sale. The per day cost incurred on a buffalo ranges from Rs 125 to Rs 150, while the general price of the milk sold is Rs 40 per litre. If the per day milk production dips, then gradually the cattle becomes unproductive,” spokesperson of the association, Fauzan Alavi, said in Lucknow. The CPI termed the decision as “most unwise” and alleged that it was taken by the RSS. In a statement, party general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy alleged that the move marks the inception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat converting the country into a Hindu Rashtra. “This will be totally unacceptable to crores and crores of people in the country. Forcible vegetarianism will do no good to the nation,” he said. NG Jayasimha, former member of legal sub committee of Animal Welfare Board of India, said the new rules prohibit the sale of animals for slaughter through the livestock markets so that animals for slaughter could be sought directly from farms, thus ensuring traceability and food safety. In a Facebook post, Vijayan asked the people of the country to act against the “uncivilised decision” of the Centre, saying it is an attempt to destroy the secular fabric of the country. VS Sunil Kumar, Minister of Agriculture in Kerala, said, “The powers of the Centre and the states are given in three different lists. One is the Union list, the other is the State list and the third one is the Concurrent list. This comes under the state list. The Centre has interfered in this.” “This decision has got wider implications on the future. Cattle rearing will become very difficult. People these days are hesitant to look after their aged parents. Now who will take care of the aged cattle?” Kumar went on to add. Welfare Party of India strongly criticised the government with its national president SQR Ilyas saying that the order would bring “unprecedented chaos and conflicts in the country in the name of cow and cattle”. Mohammed Saleem, vice president, All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh said that if his organisation was aware of the decision, it would have appealed to the Prime Minister. “No governments in the past did such things, neither Congress nor the Vajpayee government. It is not the question of minorities, poor Hindus are also dependent on it. The government receives the highest revenue from meat and leather trading. The economy will also be badly affected,” he said from Hyderabad. The environment ministry notified the stringent ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’ under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.