NEW DELHI: A court in southern India on Tuesday ordered a four-week stay on the federal government’s decision to ban the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter.
The Madras High Court gave the federal and state governments four weeks to reply to an appeal that an individual has the basic right to choose his food.
Last week, the government passed new rules that buyers and sellers at cattle markets or animal fairs will have to pledge in writing that the animals, which are considered holy by many Hindus, will not be slaughtered for food or any other purpose.
Many state governments have criticised 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 top elected officials of Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal states have said they will not abide with the federal order and protest rallies have been held in these states. Several states remote northeast, where beef is eaten widely, have also said that they will allow the slaughter of bovine animals for food and other uses.
Over the past three days, young people in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have held “beef fests” where they cooked beef and served it to the public to mark their opposition to the new rules.
In New Delhi, supporters of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday protested the killing of cows in Kerala and other parts of the country. The Centre is examining “issues” raised by states and some organisations on the recent ban imposed by it on sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu said Tuesday.
The ban was notified in the backdrop of some observations made by the Supreme Court and a parliamentary committee on preventing cruelty to animals and breaking nexus in animal markets, including for smuggling, Naidu told reporters here.
“However, subsequently some issues were raised by some state governments and other trade organisations. These issues are being examined by the government,” Naidu said.
The Environment Ministry, which had notified the rules last week, received 13 representations on them.
Exports will be hit
The ministry had notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, banning the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter.
The decision is expected to hit export and trade of meat and leather.
The rules define cattle as a bovine animal including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves and camels.
The new rules also prohibit establishment of an animal market in a place which is situated within 25km from any state border and within 50km from any international border.
Meanwhile, officials in the Environment Ministry have said that they received several representations on the ban on sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter and are in the process of studying them.
Various bodies and political parties have reacted sharply to the government’s decision, saying it is an “ill-advised” move which will widen the “terrorism” by cow vigilantes.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had asked whether the Centre would ban the consumption of fish tomorrow and had suggested exploring legal options.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday described the Centre’s notification on cattle slaughter as a “deliberate attempt to encroach upon the state’s powers” and said her government will not accept it.
