Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Panaji: Banned in neighbouring Maharashtra, beef is in short supply in Goa too with shops selling it closed for the third day on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Goa Meat Sellers Association said the shops were closed because of issues related to short supply of the meat and harassment by animal rights activists. "Shops are closed for three days now due to short supply and the ban in Maharashtra will only make things worse," Anwar Bepari told IANS, even as beef sellers across the state are due to meet Wednesday to discuss the shortage. The shortage comes at the time of Lent, a holy period when Christians, who account for 26 percent of the state’s population, tend to avoid the red meat. Beef has been a subject of controversy over the last few months with the government cracking down on consignments of both, cuts of red meat and cattle for slaughter, being illegally transported into the state from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Last month, animal rights activist Amrut Singh was brutally assaulted, allegedly by beef traders from Belgaum in Karnataka while he was tracking illegal transportation of beef from the neighbouring state to Goa. Singh has in the past been instrumental in stopping several "illegal" consignments of beef from Karnataka and Maharashtra, in co-operation with the police. Bepari now claims that such raids had bled the beef industry significantly, especially because the state-run Goa Meat Complex, the only slaughter house allowed to butcher cattle, is virtually non-operational due to renovation. "We are meeting the Goa Meat Complex chief to sort this problem out. If cattle slaughter is allowed at the complex, then at least we can get a small, but legal supply of meat in the market," Bepari said.

Mumbai: Ban on beef will put all of us on the streets, say butchers

The passage of the beef ban in Maharashtra threatens the livelihoods of thousands of butchers, many of whom have been in the business for generations and are solely dependant on it

“The ban on beef will ruin us,” said Sharafat Qureshi (54), a fourth-generation butcher who has been running a beef shop in Bandra town market along with his family since childhood.

With the ban on beef receiving the President’s seal, Sharafat isn’t the only one who faces a bleak future. Abattoirs housed in the Bandra town market bore a deserted look yesterday, while the butchers — many of whom have been in business for generations seemed anxious about what the future would hold for them. On Monday, President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 1995, 20 years after the state assembly passed it. This means that the slaughter of bulls and bullocks is banned across the state. This puts over 900 legal butcher shops and an equal number of illegal ones across the city out of business. The Bandra market alone holds 30 such shops, run by the Qureshi community, traditionally associated with the meat business, particularly beef. “We expect the state government to think on the issue and come up with a viable solution. Over 20 families depend on a single butcher shop and, hence, banning them would make thousands of people homeless,” said Intezar Qureshi, vice-president of the Mumbai Suburban Beef Dealer Association. Legacy of generationsThe Bandra market houses hundreds of such families who are educationally and financially backward, and completely dependant on the meat business. Many have been running their shops for generations and have no idea what they will do, now that they have been denied their livelihood. While the younger generation is somewhat literate, many had still planned on carrying on with their forefathers’ professions. Thirty-year-old Imran Qureshi, for instance, passed the HSC level, but had plans to continue with his family business. “I have watched my father take care of the business since childhood. Now, suddenly, we will be left with nothing,” he told this paper. Effect on marketMohammed Qureshi, president of the association, said, “There are thousands of families in Mumbai itself who are dependent on this occupation. This move by the government will not only destroy their livelihood but will also have an adverse effect on the meat market.” By adverse effect, Mohammed is referring to meat prices. While the slaughter of cows was already prohibited, the passage of the new Act will also forbid the slaughter of bulls and bullocks. It will, however, permit the slaughter of water buffaloes, which provide carabeef, inferior quality meat that accounts for just 20 per cent of business. Mohammed said the amended law would increase the rates of water buffalo by 200-300 times. Butchers at the market stressed that not only would this upset the market and current prices, there would also be major loss of customers as well, since the Christian community, which forms a larger share of their clientele, prefer beef over carabeef.

Maharashtra beef ban: Eat goat and chicken, minister tells beef lovers

Mumbai: “If people don’t get cow beef to eat, they may switch over to eating goat or chicken which is available in abundance,” said finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who has been pursuing the ban on cow slaughter in the state since the bill was first passed 20 years ago in the state legislature.

A day after the President gave his nod to the bill Mungantiwar told mid-day on Tuesday that some 3.5 lakh bulls and bullocks (including calves) were being slaughtered in the state. “This large scale killing would create a shortage of animal husbandry for the farmers, who rely heavily on bullocks for farm-related work. This isn’t any party-specific agenda because many Congress-led states too have cow slaughter ban in place. And many Congress leaders had demanded the ban,” said the BJP minister.

He said the bill was passed in the legislature in 1995 during the BJP-Shiv Sena’s last regime (1995-1999) when all parties were present in the house. “The decision has come after a long struggle. I’m happy in particular because I would ask the governments about it in every session of the state legislature. People should be happy that the decision is in tune with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy,” said the minister. Since 1976, there has been a ban on cow slaughter in Maharashtra, after the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act (MAPA) came to be enacted. However, calves/bullocks could be killed after acquiring the ‘fit for slaughter’ certificate from civic authorities. Going a step ahead, the then BJP-Shiv Sena government had passed the Maharashtra State Animal Preservation (amendment) Act of 1995, but subsequent central governments, including the BJP-led NDA, did not seek the President’s consent for it. The Congress-led governments in the state had not responded to the BJP’s demands for converting the bill into law for which the President’s consent is required. However, when Narendra Modi government asked the state in September last year whether state government was still willing to pursue the bill, the Devendra Fadnavis government sent the bill to the Centre on November 13. With the President’s nod the state government to publish the bill as the Act of Legislature and enforce it. The ban does not apply to buffalo slaughter.

For special treatment, go to Pakistan: Shiv Sena tells Muslims

Mumbai: "If the Muslim community in India want any special treatment as Muslims, they should go to Pakistan," the Shiv Sena warned here Tuesday. "If they (Muslims) want anything from this country, they must first accept India as their motherland and proclaim ’Vande Mataram’. They cannot demand freedom and yet continue to cling to their religion," the party said in a sharp edit in ’Saamana’ on Tuesday. The edit was said to be in reaction to All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s speech in Nagpur March 1, where among other things, he demanded reservations for the Muslim community on the lines of Marathas in Maharashtra.

Taking umbrage at Owaisi’s tone and tenor, the Shiv Sena reiterated its stance that reservations policy must be based on social criteria and not religious lines. "The poorest of poor Muslim should be given reservation, not because he is a Muslim, but because he is a citizen of India," the party declared. It urged all people - especially Muslims and Hindus - to accept this philosophy, which could eradicate politics of vote-banks and reservations, and help the country’s progress. "Now, Owaisi is insisting that since reservations have been given to Marathas, even Muslims must be granted the same. It was exactly such a stubborn attitude of anti-Hindu hardliner Muslims which resulted in the partition of India and they had created Pakistan," the Sena said. But, not anymore, the Sena warned. Listing the requirements, ’Saamana’ said Muslims must accept the uniform civil code, embrace family planning and give up the demand for Article 370 pertaining to the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Blasting Owaisi, it said the day when such leaders stop brainwashing the Muslims with their hate politics, it would spell a new era for the country. "Owaisi claims that Muslims have suffered a lot in India. Has he bothered to calculate how much Hindus have suffered with the Muslim fundamentalism, terror activities, bomb blasts and communal riots," it pointed out. Demanding that such a speech by Owaisi should be treated as ’anti-national’, the Sena demanded an investigation to ascertain whether he has taken a ’contract’ to create communal disturbances in Maharashtra, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must take action in the matter.