NEW DELHI: Condemning attacks by cow vigilantes, minority organisation Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) arranged a seminar to highlight the problems and demanded a complete ban on beef export from India and stop illegal slaughter to curb cruelty against cattle. They also sought to clarify that “beef” which is associated with cow was being incorrectly used to define export of buffalo meat and hence the government also needs to bring in clarity on the matter to prevent misuse of the word.The demands, put out in a memorandum addressed to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, were endorsed by representatives from Muslim and dalit communities at a packed Mavlankar Hall in Constitution Club. It was also announced that if these demands were not met by the government, the protesters will take their agitation to the streets and Ramlila Grounds.
“We would like to express our apprehensions with respect to the atrocities, suppression and discrimination meted out to the Muslim minority, on the pretext of cow protection, beef eating, terrorism, national security, etc. Since the death of a man beaten to death after being accused of eating beef last September in Dadri, vigilante groups of cow protectors have flourished,” said a statement released by the IMC.
“After a long silence, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finally joined the fray, condemning attacks by Hindu cow protection squads and vowing to investigate those engaged in violence,” the statement said. “There have been several instances of religious violence against Muslims in recent past, frequently in the form of violent attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs that form a pattern of sporadic sectarian violence between Hindu and Muslim communities,” it further added.
IMC has demanded that “the slaughter of cows and calves should be strictly banned in India. The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgement upheld the constitutional validity of anti-cow slaughter laws enacted by different state governments in India. 24 out of 29 states in India currently have various regulations prohibiting either the slaughter or sale of cows. Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are the states where there are no restrictions on cow slaughter.”
It is further pointed that “many illegal slaughter houses operate in large cities such as Chennai and Mumbai. There are more than 30,000 illegal slaughter houses in India and efforts to close them down have so far been largely unsuccessful. Government of India should bring a legislation to completely ban the slaughter of cows and calves. Muslims are not interested in eating beef.”
Speaking on the occasion, Congress MP Digvijay Singh attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointing out that “sabka saath sabka vikas” was a farce and went on to cite the response of the government to the Dadri case. Joining the chorus for ban on beef export he also demanded the use of the word “beef” for buffalo meat must be stopped and the definition made clear to prevent misunderstanding and abuse of the word by vested interest.
JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sharp attack on the current dispensation at the Centre said this sudden attacks on poor in the name of cow protection were politically motivated attempts to steer attention of the public from the real problem afflicting them like poverty, lack of livelihood options and inequality.