Of late, the beef about the BJP has been its two-facedness when it comes to the issue of beef and cow slaughter. The party doesn’t have a pan-India stand on cow slaughter. Different propaganda is adopted in different states. In the north of Vindhyas, where cows are venerated as the ‘mother’, the BJP has made it a mission to protect them. The laws relating to cow slaughter vary from state to state in India. In majority of the states, there is a law banning cow slaughter. In some states, slaughter of cows is permissible under certain conditions. Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim have no restrictions on cow slaughter.
Last month, the Gujarat assembly amended the cow protection act in the state and made cow slaughter a non-bailable offence and punishable with life imprisonment. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, after taking charge, ordered a crackdown on slaughterhouses in the state, much to the discomfort of traders and non-vegetarians. Adityanath is hugely fond of cows and bulls and has dedicated his life for them. He has company. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said his government would hang those who kill cow. After the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014, cow vigilantes have flourished across north India. They are seen harming innocent people who take cows from one place to another for different purposes. On April 21, in Jammu and Kashmir, five members of a family, including a nine-year-old girl, were beaten up after they were seen moving with their flocks of cattle, goats and sheep.
But cows and bulls are not so much sacred in the south of Vindhyas, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, a traditional bull chasing sport, Jallikattu, is organised every year where cruelty is meted out to the animal. In Kerala, many Hindus consume beef. Far away, in much of the northeast, beef is considered a desirable sustenance. The BJP has said that there will be no beef ban in states in the northeast where the BJP is in power. In Kerala, during the recent bypoll in Malappuram, a Muslim-majority constituency, the BJP candidate N. Sriprakash said he would provide good quality beef if he won the election. After it caused an uproar, he had to retract his statement. Said Sriprakash, “My words were twisted. I only talked about modernisation of slaughter houses in Malappuram district. I should be left alone.” He came third in the by-poll, garnering only 1,000 more votes than he had received in 2014.
Kerala, incidentally, is the highest consumer of meat in the country, with its daily requirement touching more than 5,000 tonnes. Close to 85 per cent of the state's population is non-vegetarian. Said O. Rajagopal, BJP MLA in Kerala, "I don't want to talk about cow slaughter. It is a non-issue in Kerala."
In January, the Union environment ministry had asked the Union agriculture ministry to explore the option of enacting a national law to prevent cow slaughter. Said S.S. Ahluwalia, Union minister of state for agriculture, “We will soon bring in law that prohibits cow slaughter across the country. Article 48 of the Constitution clearly mandates the state to prohibit the slaughter of cows and calves.”
Last month, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that a law banning cow slaughter in India would promote non-violence. In 2003, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government had to postpone the introduction of a bill banning cow slaughter in Parliament after some of its allies, along with the opposition parties, created an uproar in Parliament and demanded that the bill be withdrawn.
Said the BJP’s national executive member Seshadri Chari, “The BJP has always wanted a complete ban on cow slaughter across the nation. But in some states there are no rules banning cow slaughter. We would like to build a consensus on the issue. We have asked other like-minded organisations to help us formulate a consensus with all the concerned parties on this subject. I am sure even the Congress will support us in Parliament when we are ready with the bill preventing cow slaughter. The BJP is not in a hurry. But a bill banning cow slaughter nationally would become a reality soon.”
Congress leaders in the northeast say that the reality in northeast is different from the rest of the country. Nagaland Congress chief Kewekhape Therie said, “Beef is an important food in Nagaland. We are not against Hindus. But it is a nuisance to restrict us from eating the food we like. Northeast is different from mainstream India.”
But the sentiments of the majority religion in the country have to be respected by all, said Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s joint general secretary Surendra Jain. “Even in a country like the US, there are bans on killing horses and dogs in some states because of environmental issues and other factors. Across all civilisations in the world, the religious sentiments of the majority community are respected. Why can’t it happen in India? A national ban on cow slaughter should happen at the earliest,” he said.
The Supreme Court in January this year dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a complete ban on cow slaughter and said it would not interfere with the state laws on the killing of cows and bulls. In fact, in 2005, the court had upheld the constitutional validity of anti-cow slaughter laws approved by different state governments.
Recently, after the court asked the government to stop smuggling of cattle through the borders with Nepal and Bangladesh, the Union government told the court on April 24 that it wanted an Aadhaar-like unique identification system for cows, so as to track their movement and prevent smuggling. Now, the ministry of agriculture is devising a method for identification of cattle, using polyurethane tags with a unique identification number that the animal would carry its whole life. The government has allocated Rs 148 crore for obtaining the tag and health cards for cows. The tag will be fixed in the centre of the cow’s ear lobe. Tagging of cattle for insurance and such purposes is already in place in some north Indian states.
Said senior CPI leader D. Raja, “This is absurd. The Union government should decide whether a human being is important to them or a cow. The whole thing has a communal angle to it. Cow is being used each passing day as a weapon to terrorise people.”
Said Priya Dutt, Congress secretary, "I am a big animal lover. But I really don't think a ban, be it anything, is going to work in the country. It creates more chaos. If a national ban on cow slaughter comes in place, it would lead to more inhuman ways of killing cows. There should be strict laws against cruelty to animals. But cow slaughter should not be taken up as an emotional subject. You just cannot tell people what to eat."
Said G. Rajagopalan, additional solicitor general, "I can't express my owns views on the matter. Whatever decision the government takes on cow slaughter, I am here to defend it. As you know there are more than one judgment by the Supreme Court on this matter and regarding invoking Article 48 of the Constitution."
