Thousands protest against ban on bullock slaughter in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Thousands of activists of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), along with farmers and beef traders took out rallies across the state on Tuesday, protesting against the imposition of a ban on the slaughter of bullocks.
Ramdas Athawale, the party chief, led a procession of farmers along with bullocks to the collector’s office in Bandra. The RPI(A) is part of the BJP-led coalition government in Maharashtra, but is opposed to the ban on the slaughter of bullocks.
The state government recently pushed ahead with an amendment to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act — which was enacted in 1976 and imposed a ban on cow slaughter — bringing calves, buffaloes and bullocks under the anti-slaughter legislation. It also prohibited the sale of beef and envisaged penalties on those consuming or possessing the meat.
Last month, the Bombay high court, while upholding the ban, directed the government not to take action against those in possession of beef for three months.
Nitin Tayde, chief of strategy, RPI(A), told reporters on Tuesday that the ban had hurt thousands of beef traders, workers and even farmers possessing ageing bulls. “There may have been loopholes in the earlier act, but the government should fix it, instead of banning the slaughter of bullocks,” he said. “The amended act has destroyed the livelihood of thousands of workers and affected poor farmers across the state.”
According to him, Athawale will be meeting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis this week and will urge him to withdraw the bill banning the slaughter of bulls. Tayde said that besides Muslims, especially members of the Qureshi community, many Hindus including Dalits had been adversely affected by the ban.
Farmers in many drought-hit districts of Maharashtra, who used to sell their ageing bulls to meat traders, have to now abandon the animals as there are no buyers.
When the state government imposed a ban even on possession and consumption of beef, there were fears that the police and other government officials might try to harass ordinary people and try to extort funds.