UP meat sellers may end strike; CM Yogi Adityanath assures 'no action against licensed slaughterhouses'

Meat sellers, especially mutton vendors, across Uttar Pradesh are likely to end their indefinite strike against the state-wide crackdown on illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses after a “positive” meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath assured the meat traders, who went on strike on Monday, that licensed slaughterhouses will not be shut down and that his government will protect the interests of all genuine operators. “Our meeting with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister was very successful. He assured us that licensed slaughterhouses will not be troubled. I appeal to the protesters to return to work and start working with a proper licence… Uttar Pradesh government will help you procure one,” a report in Indian Express quoted Sirajuddin Qureshi, a meat exporter, as saying. [caption id=“attachment_3361338” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] According to the report, Adityanath had met with a delegation of meat traders on Thursday, as the indefinite strike had started to hurt many local businesses. Adityanath reportedly told them that ‘strict action will be taken against those who forcefully shutdown the slaughterhouses.’ As per a report in Hindustan Times, majority of the meat traders that met with Adityanath described their meeting as “positive”, suggesting that the meat shops may become fully functional after the Navratras. After coming to power, Adityanath had ordered closure of illegal slaughterhouses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfil a key electoral promise. The ban affected the livelihood of around 25 lakh people directly or indirectly. The Rs 15,000 crore slaughterhouse-industry in UP accounts for nearly 50 percent of India’s total meat exports. With inputs from PTI