Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has clarified his stance on beef consumption, saying that he has no problem with people eating beef, but it should be restricted to private spaces.
The clarification comes right ahead of the Assembly polls on April 9.
“There is a big Muslim community in Assam that consumes beef. I am not stopping this. I am only saying, eat it inside your home. Don’t eat it in a public space,” he told reporters.
He said that beef consumption should be within homes and not in public areas or within a five-kilometre radius of any temple.
The remark is a departure from his previous stance, where he warned beef consumers of legal action. "There is a law of cattle prevention in Assam. There is a provision of 3 years of jail for eating beef publicly... I am not going to spare those who eat cow meat. As per law, I am going to file an FIR against them in the police station," he told ANI during his campaign in Jorhat earlier this month.
The Chief Minister had recently also threatened action against Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) candidate Kunki Chowdhury’s mother, Sujata Gurung, over alleged beef eating and for being “anti-national and anti-Sanatani”
The Chief Minister’s new remarks has led to backlash from opposition parties.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the BJP and urged people to "remove BJP and protect cows". "Bhajpa hatao, Gaumata bachao", the SP leader wrote in a post on X.
Arvind Kejriwal's AAP said that the"‘Mother Cow’ is just an electoral gimmick by the BJP and a 'tool for riots and unrest.’ He said that in North India, "the BJP and its supporters carry out murders in the name of ‘cow protection', their own leaders are saying, eat beef."
The Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, was introduced to the legislative Assembly on July 12, 2021. the act provides the preservation of cattle by restricting slaughter and the transportation and sale of beef.
