New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: Various bodies and political parties reacted sharply to the government's decision to ban the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, saying it is an 'ill advised' decision which would bolster the 'terrorism' unleashed by cow vigilantes.
Also read: Today they banned cattle slaughter, tomorrow fish: CM Pinarayi
Center bans sale, purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter
While Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked whether the Center will ban the consumption of fish tomorrow, another minister in his cabinet termed the decision as a challenge against the Constitution.
Others said it would give rise to unemployment. Meanwhile VHP demanded a law to completely ban cow slaughter and life imprisonment for such acts.
The chief minister will write to the PM on Center's latest notification on cattle markets. The CM will inform that the implementation of rules would not be practical. The state will pursue further steps on the basis of Center's response.
Anti-farmer
The All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association claimed the government's decision would eventually hit the farmers.
"It is the unproductive cattle, which arrives in large number for sale in these markets, as their feasibility virtually cease to exist, while the per day maintenance cost goes up.
"The high yielding milching animals rarely arrive at the cattle market for sale. The per day cost incurred on a buffalo ranges from Rs 125 to Rs 150, while the general price of the milk sold is Rs 40 per litre. If the per day milk production dips, then gradually the cattle becomes unproductive," spokesperson of the association, Fauzan Alavi, said in Lucknow.
'Unwise and uncivilized'
The CPI termed the decision as 'most unwise' and alleged that it was taken by the RSS.
In a statement, party general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy alleged that the move marks the inception of prime minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat converting the country into a Hindu Rashtra.
"This will be totally unacceptable to crores and crores of people in the country. Forcible vegetarianism will do no good to the nation," he said.
N.G. Jayasimha, former member of legal sub committee of Animal Welfare Board of India, said the new rules prohibit the sale of animals for slaughter through the livestock markets so that animals for slaughter could be sought directly from farms, thus ensuring traceability and food safety.
In a Facebook post, Pinarayi Vijayan asked the people of the country to act against the 'uncivilized decision' of the Center, saying it is an attempt to destroy the secular fabric of the nation.
"It is not right that a government decides on food for the people. With this decision, the Centre is destroying a sector which employees thousands of people," Pinarayi said.
The notification was part of Centre's attempt to implement 'RSS agenda'. The Center should have consulted with the states and sought their opinion before coming out with the notification, he said in a statement.
'Center destroying federal system'
While Kerala finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said the decision was 'illogical' and the state would introspect what it could do legally, local administration minister K.T. Jaleel and agriculture minister V.S. Sunil Kumar felt it was an infringement on the powers of the state and the decision cannot be accepted.
"This was a state subject and the Centre cannot infringe on the state's rights", Jaleel told reporters here.
Sunil Kumar said the notification was a challenge to the country's federal system.
India is a democratic nation and the center's decision to impose the ban without consulting the states amounted to violation of the federal system, he said.
The minister said, "The powers of the Center and the states are mentioned in three different lists. One is the Union list. The other is the State list and the third one is the Concurrent list. This comes under the state list. The Center has interfered in this."
"This decision has got wider implications. Cattle rearing will become very difficult in future. People these days are hesitant to look after their aged parents. Now who will take care of the aged cattle? Who will take care of them," Sunil Kumar went on to add.
Kerala animal husbandry minister K. Raju opined that the decision will destroy the federal structure and will have far-reaching consequences.
'Imposing RSS agenda'
CPM state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in his Facebook post that the government led by Narendra Modi, who was an RSS Pracharak, has come out with the notification at a time when the country was all set to celebrate Ramzan. Echoing similar sentiments, Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the ban was an attempt to usurp the human rights of citizens.
"The Modi Government's effort from the beginning was to curb the constitutional rights and the ban was the latest example of the alleged fascist moves of the government," he said.
KPCC president M.M. Hassan also criticized the decision saying it was against the Constitution and encroachment on the fundamental rights of the citizens. The notification banning cattle trade for meat was unconstitutional and violation of federal principles, Dr Varughese George, national general secretary of Janata Dal (U) said. Welfare Party of India strongly criticized the government with its national president S.Q.R. Ilyas saying that the order would bring "unprecedented chaos and conflicts in the country in the name of cow and cattle".
Mohammed Saleem, vice-president, All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh, said that if his organization was aware of the decision, it would have appealed to the prime minister.
"No governments in the past did such things, neither Congress nor the Vajpayee government. It is not the question of minorities, poor Hindus are also dependent on it. The government receives the highest revenue from meat and leather trading. The economy will also be badly affected," he said from Hyderabad.
The environment ministry notified the stringent 'Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017' under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
However, justifying the NDA government's decision, BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, blamed the media for 'distorting' the notification.
The notification had only restricted the sale of animals for slaughter which were used for agricultural purposes, he said and alleged that media houses with vested interests was hiding the fact.