November 2024 witnessed a spate of cow vigilantism cases across North India, particularly in the state of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, each marked by its own brutality and disregard for legal norms. From public harassment and assaults to deaths in custody, these incidents underscore a grim pattern of targeted violence. The details of these incidents are provided below:

Cow vigilantism across states

Haryana

1. Location: Mohra, Ambala

Date: November 12

In Ambala’s Mohra village, the Gau Raksha Dal, led by national president Satish Kumar, stopped a truck carrying cattle. Assisted by local police, the vigilantes accused the Muslim drivers of smuggling cows for slaughter. Despite the absence of evidence, the vigilantes verbally abused and humiliated the drivers, hurling communal slurs. As per social media posts, eyewitnesses described how the group took over the investigation, dictating terms to the passive police officers. This incident is emblematic of how cow vigilantes exploit the legal machinery to legitimise their actions while targeting minorities.

2. Location: Nuh

Date: November 24

In Nuh, members of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and Gau Raksha Dal intercepted a truck transporting cattle, claiming the animals were being smuggled for slaughter. The drivers were assaulted and publicly humiliated, with videos of the incident shared online to further intimidate the community. The lack of police action against the vigilantes highlights a troubling trend of selective enforcement, where victims are criminalised while perpetrators enjoy impunity.

Uttar Pradesh

1. Location: Chhutmalpur, Saharanpur

Date: November 19

A chilling incident occurred in Saharanpur’s Chhutmalpur, where members of the Gau Raksha Dal surrounded a Muslim woman found carrying meat. Without evidence, they accused her of possessing beef from an illegally slaughtered cow. The woman was publicly harassed, subjected to communal abuse, and forced to defend herself against baseless allegations. Such actions highlight how cow vigilantism often takes a gendered form, with women facing disproportionate humiliation.

2. Location: Vrindavan

Date: November 22

In Vrindavan, Gau Raksha Dal members intercepted a truck carrying cattle. The vigilantes assaulted the drivers, accusing them of illegal cow slaughter. The group filmed the attack and shared it online, using it as a propaganda tool to showcase their actions as a form of moral policing. Witnesses reported that the victims were left bleeding and traumatised while the police arrived only after the situation had escalated.

3. Location: Jaunpur

Date: November 22

One of the most harrowing incidents unfolded in Jaunpur, where a Muslim man allegedly died in police custody. The police alleged he was a cow smuggler and claimed he was shot during an encounter. However, the victim’s family provided a starkly different account: they stated he was detained while drinking tea at a market and later taken to a remote location, where he was tortured and shot in the leg. The family reported severe injuries, including chest trauma and bleeding from his nose and ears. This incident not only exposes the nexus between law enforcement and cow vigilantism but also raises questions about the misuse of encounter killings to target marginalised groups.

4. Location: Ghaziabad

Date: November 22

In Ghaziabad, members of the Mahadev Seva Sangh assaulted two truck drivers transporting cattle. The vigilantes accused them of cow smuggling and subjected them to a brutal beating. The victims were handed over to the police, who focused on questioning the drivers while ignoring the violence perpetrated by the vigilantes. This selective approach underscores the complicity of law enforcement in enabling mob violence.

5. Location: Mathura

Date: November 26

In Mathura, members of the Gau Raksha Dal, led by Sonu Hindu Palwal, attacked a truck driver transporting cattle, accusing him of illegal slaughter. The vigilantes also claimed that someone accompanying the driver fired a gun at them, but the alleged shooter escaped. The truck driver, visibly injured, was detained by the police. Witnesses reported that the vigilantes acted with a sense of impunity, knowing they would face no legal consequences for their actions.

Punjab

1. Location: Rajpura, Patiala

Date: November 25

In Rajpura, members of the Gau Raksha Dal, under Satish Kumar’s leadership, stopped and harassed three men, accusing them of being cow thieves. The vigilantes verbally abused the victims and threatened them with violence. Despite the lack of evidence, the group claimed to have acted in the interest of cow protection, highlighting how such vigilantes often operate without any legal basis.

Cow vigilantism: Systemic failures, communal targeting, and the role of social media

Cow vigilantism in India reflects a troubling intersection of systemic failures, communal biases, and the misuse of digital platforms. The recurring incidents highlight a disturbing pattern of complicity between law enforcement and vigilante groups. Police inaction—or, at times, active participation—not only enables these groups to function as parallel judicial systems but also legitimises their unlawful activities. The lack of accountability ensures that vigilantes operate with impunity, often using violence as a tool to assert dominance and intimidate vulnerable communities. This breakdown in the rule of law emboldens such groups to act as self-appointed enforcers of morality and legality.

A consistent and deeply concerning feature of cow vigilantism is the targeted harassment of Muslims and Dalits. These incidents are far from isolated; they form part of a broader narrative of communal polarisation, where the guise of cow protection is weaponised to criminalise and marginalise minority communities. The misuse of cow protection laws serves to legitimise these actions, creating a climate of fear and exclusion that exacerbates social tensions. Victims are often publicly humiliated, assaulted, or worse, killed, while perpetrators frequently face little to no legal repercussions. The societal impact of this targeting is profound, fostering mistrust and deepening communal divides in an already polarised environment.

Adding to the menace is the role of social media, which has become a powerful tool for amplifying cow vigilantism. Vigilante groups often document their actions—sometimes live-streaming assaults or sharing videos of violence—and circulate them online as propaganda. This digital spectacle not only normalises such behaviour but also desensitises the public to its brutality. By turning acts of violence into a form of communal performance, social media reinforces toxic narratives that encourage copycat incidents. The weaponisation of these platforms ensures that the reach and influence of vigilantes extend far beyond the immediate victims, further polarising society and stoking communal tensions.

The convergence of these factors—systemic failures, targeted communal violence, and the weaponisation of social media—has turned cow vigilantism into a potent threat to India’s constitutional values. It exposes weaknesses in law enforcement, highlights the misuse of religious sentiments for political gain, and demonstrates the alarming ease with which hate can be propagated in the digital age. Addressing this issue requires not only legal and institutional reforms but also a societal reckoning with the underlying prejudices and divisions that fuel such acts. Without decisive action, cow vigilantism will continue to erode the principles of justice, equality, and humanity that are fundamental to India’s democratic fabric.

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The lone survivor has recounted that a mob of 14-15 people attacked them. Two people travelling with him, with one of them being his brother. Their bodies were then thrown from a bridge onto a riverbed. To save his own life, the survivor says he jumped off the bridge himself.

Those who died are reportedly young Muslim men named Chand Miyan, 23, and Guddu Khan, 35. The injured person is named Saddam Qureshi. All of these men were workers from Uttar Pradesh. A harrowing 57-second video of the survivor is circulating widely on social media which shows the survivor, barely conscious in his hospital bed.

Reports indicate that these vigilantes attacked the truck because they suspected the truck drivers of smuggling cows. They chased the Chhattisgarh-registered truck from Patewa along the Mahasamund-Arang Road, approximately 70 kilometres from Raipur, and stopped it on a bridge over the Mahanadi River, where they started assaulting the men.

Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh has told the media that an FIR has been registered regarding the incident. As per reports on NDTV, a senior official has stated that so far, there is no evidence to point towards the idea it was a case of mob lynching, and autopsy reports are still awaited.

The body of one of the victims reportedly showed multiple fractures, with one foot severely damaged.

NDTV has also reported that the truck found near the bridge has been ‘seized’, and the police have put the animals in an animal shelter.

The assault took place between 2am and 3am. The police came to the site after an hour. Raipur ASP Kirtan Rathore informed reporters that upon arrival, one person was already deceased. The two surviving victims were transported to a community health centre, where the second person later succumbed to his injuries.

According to Bhaskar News, Shoaib, the brother of Saddam Qureshi, who was injured in the mob lynching incident in Chhattisgarh, stated “Saddam was groaning in pain and saying, ‘Brother, my leg is broken.’ He even asked for water, but the attackers continued to beat him.”

Times of India has reported that the wife of one of the deceased, Guddu, who is pregnant has been in shock ever since she heard the news.

In other news, trucks carrying goats for the sacrifice on Eid-ul-Zuha were reportedly attacked by the cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Trucks carrying animals for #Eid-Ul-Adha were stopped by #Hindutva organisations amid #JaiShriRam slogans creating tense situation in #Paldi area of #Ahmedabad, #Gujarat. pic.twitter.com/tVfb3LRuOY

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) June 11, 2024

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According to reports, Nawaz was transporting two bulls, a buffalo calf, and a cow from Babaleshwar to Vijayapura when the attackers, who is reported to be associated with Bajrang Dal leaders Viresh Hiremath and Raju Biradara, came to his truck and a case has been registered against them.

As per a report in Siasat News, Nawaz’s body in the video shows severe wounds and visible blood stains. At the same time, a case has been reported to the Babaleshwar police station regarding the attack, and the authorities are currently investigating the incident.

This is not the first time cattle traders belonging to the Muslim community have faced an attack in the region.

In April 2023, Idrees Pasha a 39 year old cattle trader was fatally attacked by cow vigilantes in Karnataka’s Ramanagara region on April 1, as per report. He was found dead after the truck he was travelling in with two other people was attacked. He had reportedly passed away due to a cardiac arrest, as per initial findings from a post-mortem examination, as stated by police sources. The police following the incident arrest five suspects. Zaheer, one of the persons who was attacked was charged under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020 He was taken to the police station by Puneeth Kerehalli. Kerehalli is reportedly an activist and was absconding after Pasha’s death was reported. He has so far denied involvement in the incident even though it was reportedly that he was the one who led the attack against Pasha. Pasha’s family has alleged that he had burn marks on his body, which indicate that he may have been brutally tortured before he died.

Similarly, in August, 2023, a group of Muslims who were reportedly cattle traders were attacked by members of the Sri Ram Sena in Karnataka’s Bidar. Several people were injured before the police intervened and stopped the situation from getting worse. The Sri Ram Sena had claimed that the cows were being transported illegally to a slaughterhouse. In the same year, a month later in September, the organisation Sri Ram Sene had made alleged cattle smugglers hold the heads of cows and pose for photographs and utter ‘Jai Sri Ram’, in Doddaballapura near Bengaluru This incident, according to The NewsMinute, took place soon after Sri Ram Sena head Pramod Muthalik gave a speech which many residents and police officials say could be the cause for the incident.

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The Gauhati High Court has issued notice on a petition challenging “complete ban” on business of selling beef in Assam’s Sonari Municipal area, reported LiveLaw. Notice was issued by a single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi who has to decide whether the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021 contemplates an absolute beef ban or whether the Municipal Corporation is obliged to allot an appropriate site to carry out such business.

The petition has challenged a notice dated June 30, 2022, issued by the Executive Officer, Sonari Municipal Board which completely prohibits the business of selling of beef from July 15, 2022, under Section 8 of the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021. As reported by LiveLaw, the counsel for the petitioners argued that the Act does not contemplate a complete ban as that would amount to infringement of the fundamental right to carry out business. According to the petitioners, the Act prescribes procedure and formalities which include allotment of an appropriate site to carry out business.

The petition reportedly questioned the competence of the Executive Officer in issuing the impugned notice, on the ground that the Act has prescribed the government to appoint an appropriate authority, which had not been done in the present case.

The Court has directed the State Counsel to obtain instructions from the Government of Assam and present them on July 25, 2022, and to include steps/measures taken to ensure that the petitioners can carry out their business, as per Act.

The order maybe read here: 

Readers would recall that the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill was passed in the State Assembly last August amidst an Opposition walkout and chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’. The bill states that sale and purchase of beef cannot be carried out in a 5 km radius of a temple as well as in areas inhabited by non-beef eating communities like Hindus, Jains etc. The law prescribes a penalty of imprisonment up to 8 years and/or fine up to 5 lakh for contravening the provisions of the law.

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Popular actor and Filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran has most eloquently put what most politicians from Southern India are also flagging as a socio political crisis threatening to engulf the idyllic archipelago of Lakshadweep. The Union Territory’s Administrator, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Praful Khoda Patel, a former minister in the Gujarat cabinet of the then Chief MInister Narendra Modi, has cleared a range of ‘proposals’ that include a ban on beef, disqualification of panchayat poll aspirants who have more than two children, and introduction of an anti-goonda Act.

This has led to a major outcry, especially in Kerala, which has a language, and culture in common with the islanders. Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran who shared his long note on Facebook and bravely asked, “How does disrupting the way of life of a centuries old peaceful settlement become an acceptable means of progress? How will threatening the balance of a very delicate island ecosystem with no regard for the potential consequences pave the way for sustainable development?”

https://www.facebook.com/PrithvirajSukumaran/posts/336591017833458

A strong political comment has come from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who on Tuesday said the changes proposed by Praful Khoda Patel would challenge the “lives, livelihoods and culture” of those who live in Lakshadweep and “cannot be accepted”. He added that “Kerala has a strong relationship, a long history of cooperation” with the islands and thus “Unequivocally condemn devious efforts to thwart it. Perpetrators should desist.”

News reports from Lakshwadeep are quite serious. Challenges imposed on their lives, livelihoods and culture cannot be accepted. Kerala has a strong relationship, a long history of cooperation with LD. Unequivocally condemn devious efforts to thwart it. Perpetrators should desist.

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) May 25, 2021

Vijayan’s words and reaction was echoed by many LDF and Congress MPs from Kerala, stated news reports. The Telegraph reported that Kerala-based Congress politician V.T. Balram said the administrator has been “executing ‘a Sangh parivar agenda’ since his appointment last December.” As recalled by The Telegraph, in 2010 Patel was appointed Gujarat’s home minister after Amit Shah vacated it following the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. 

Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal PP, has also spoken out and written to the Centre, along with other leaders, demanding that Patel be recalled and his proposals reviewed, reported The Indian Express. Patel, since his appointment has proposed drafts of the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation, Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation and amendment to the Lakshadweep Panchayat Staff Rules, stated news reports. According to Faizal, the people’s representatives were not consulted in regard to these draft proposals. 

Lakshadweep Development Authority

One of the triggers for the recent uproar is the draft of the Lakshadweep Development Authority, stated news reports. Faizal told the media that this draft “is aimed at usurping people’s land. The Authority will get huge power to take over land without protecting the interests of land owners. There is a move to develop roads as per National Highway standards. Why does Lakshadweep require huge highways? The Administrator is furthering the business interests of people in the mainland.’’

The outrage has set #SaveLakshadweep to trend for hours on end. Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Central Committee Member of CPI(M) Elamaram Kareem, also wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind, asking that the “authoritarian Administrator” be called back. He stated that “Kashmir Lakshadweep is the new target of Modi Govt. People there are being tortured under the new Administrator’s rule. Everything to destroy their culture & traditions.”

After Kashmir Lakshadweep is the new target of Modi Govt. People there are being tortured under the new Administrator’s rule. Everything to destroy their culture & traditions. Wrote to @rashtrapatibhvn to immediately call back the authoritarian Administrator.#SaveLakshadweep pic.twitter.com/rzH43wFil1

— Elamaram Kareem (@ElamaramKareem_) May 24, 2021

Ban Beef, crack down on fisherfolk

Then there is the proposal to impose a ban on beef and has been drafted in the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation proposal. This has contributed to the unrest in the Union Territory where Muslims make over 90 per cent of the population. As per the draft, quoted by the Telegraph, “No person shall directly or indirectly sell, keep, store, transport, offer or expose for sale or buy beef or beef products in any form anywhere in Lakshadweep.” It is crucial to note that meat and fish are a part of the staple diet in Lakshadweep, TT reports that “Patel has cracked down on the fishing community that makes up more than 80 per cent of the local population”. Their temporary huts, sheds, boats, net-drying facilities and storage spaces have been removed from the shores citing “violation of coastal zone norms” by the Patel-led administration, stated the report. CPI Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam also wrote to the President stating, “Dairies have been hurt by the ban on cattle sale and transport. None of the decisions has been taken in consultation with local communities or their elected bodies.” 

Meanwhile, liquor licences flow free

Viswam apprised the President that as Muslims are “over 96 per cent of the population” of Lakshadweep, “in accordance with the religious and cultural beliefs of the community, the consumption of alcohol was banned on the islands”, reported TT quoting the letter that added, “However, in a recent decision, the administration has begun issuing liquor licences under the guise of promoting tourism and individual freedom, thereby completely ignoring the socio-cultural context of the area.”

Covid crisis, after zero cases last year?

Another point that is most relevant as the nation grapples with the Covid-19, is the fact that Lakshadweep, which had “zero Covid-19 cases” in 2020, reported 6,611 cases on Sunday, according to news reports. Lakshadweep has “over 4,000 cases with over 20 deaths already,” Viswam has written to Kovind, adding, “Further, the pressure on the health infrastructure of the islands has increased manifold leaving the population vulnerable and worried.”

According to Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal PP, “The administrator lifted all Covid regulatory norms,” and that “people arriving from outside were earlier required to quarantine themselves, but Patel relaxed those norms in the name of promoting tourism”. 

Patel, recalled news reports, is the first politician since Independence to be appointed the islands’ topmost official authority. Before that the Administrator was always a senior civil servant.

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Ranchi: Jeetrai Hansda, a prominent tribal activist and professor at the Government School and College for Women, Sakchi, in Jharkhand was arrested on Saturday.
 
He was arrested almost two years after he wrote a Facebook post asserting his community’s right to eat beef on the basis of a complaint filed against him in June 2017 by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s student wing Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad.
 
The timing of the police action, two days after the declaration of the election results, has prompted questions whether the BJP-run administration in the state delayed the arrest to avoid an Adivasi backlash in the polls.
 
A lawyer from the team handling Hansda’s case told HuffPost India that he suspected the arrest was made after the elections were over so that the BJP did not anger the Adivasis and lose their votes before the polls. The BJP won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand this year, same as 2014. The government at the state is also led by the BJP under Raghubar Das.
 
A diary was filed against Hansda’s Facebook post in 2017 and after ‘investigating’ the complaint, inspector Anil Kumar Singh of Sakchi police station lodged the FIR. Hansda’s lawyer said that though he was asked to appear in the police station, he wasn’t arrested back then. He was only arrested yesterday and continues to be in police custody. Hansda had also moved for anticipatory bail, which was rejected.
 
Hansda is a prominent Adivasi activist and theatre artist and his Facebook post asserted his community’s right to eat beef.
 
The FIR lodged at the Sakchi police station in Jamshedpur, stated that Hansda had written a Facebook post asserting that the Adivasi community in India has had a long tradition of eating beef and ceremonial cow sacrifice. It is their democratic and cultural right to consume the meat, he said. The post also said that they oppose India’s laws on eating beef and that his community also consumes peacocks, the country’s national bird. He also expressed his unwillingness to follow Hindu customs.
 
Hansda’s lawyer said that he had been asked to appear at the police station in 2017 but was not arrested. The professor’s application for anticipatory bail was also rejected. According to HuffPost India, Hansda has been charged with sections of the Indian Penal Code that deal with insults to religious feelings and attempts to promote enmity between groups of people.
 
Meanwhile, the leader of an organisation that works for the preservation of Adivasi traditions said that in 2017 he had urged the vice chancellor of Kolhan University, which runs the government college in Sakchi, not to expel the professor.

Dasmath Hansdah, the chief of the Majhi Pargana Mahal, had written to the vice-chancellor, saying there were no inaccuracies in Hansda’s post, and called the assertions made by him a “truthful representation of the cultural and religious traditions of the Adivasi community and their culinary legacies”.
 
The letter also said, “Adivasis are citizens of India as well. We have a democratic right to follow our cultural and religious traditions like everybody else… If the Central government brings in a law banning cow slaughter, it will end our traditions and religious beliefs”.
 
Though it is not clear if the university suspended Hansda, “he stopped going to college”, Dasmath Hansdah told HuffPost India.
 
Hansda was booked under sections 153 (A), 295A, 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for insulting religious feelings and attempts to promote enmity between groups of people.
 
 

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Petitions and counter petitions challenging the Maharashtra government’s ban on cow slaughter are pending before the Supreme Court. The Bombay High Court had, in its order dated May 6, 2016, allowed possession and consumption of beef brought into Maharashtra from outside. The RSS-drivenMaharashtra government has appealed, seeking a revival of a provision of law that made it an offence to carry or keep beef at home in the state.

In the Bombay HC Aspi Chinoi and Mihir Desai had represented 30 individuals from Maharashtra led by activist Swatija Paranjpe who have demanded lifting of ban on beef and “decriminalisation of food habits”. Indira Jaising is now likely to plead their case.

In their appeal, the petitioners have challenged the May 6, 2016 order of the Bombay High Court which upheld the ban on cow slaughter in the state under the amended Maharashtra Animals Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2015. During the last hearing a lawyer in another petitioin said the offence of possessing beef involved the right to privacy and referred to the judgment of a nine-judge bench yesterday. The bench agreed that aspect   may also have to be looked into when the matter is taken up for hearing.

Justifying a nine-judge bench, Jaising said earlier an SC seven judge bench led by the CJI R C Lahoti had imposed complete ban on slaughtering of even unproductive bovine. The case was State of Gujarat Vs Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab. The citizen petitioners have also pointed out that those who consume beef as a part of their regular diet are predominantly from the lower socio-economic strata of society, are predominantly members of SC/ST and Muslim community, and therefore the effect of restriction.

on access to cheap and nutritious food that is a part of their regular diet is extraordinarily intense and cannot be legally sustained.

The petitioners have also sought tagging together of all petitions relating to beef ban. A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan however did not take any decision on the plea for a nine judge bench or tagging and merely adjourned the matter for another date.

The Second Case
On August 11 Supreme Court issued notice on a petition filed by Maharashtra government seeking revival of a provision of law that made it an offence to carry or keep beef at home in the state. A bench of justices R K Agrawal and Abhay Manohar Sapre issued the notice to one Haresh M Jagtani who had challenged the law in the High Court.

The bench tagged the matter along with several pending matters on the issue from the state for a detailed hearing later. More than a year ago, the Bombay High Court struck down Section 5D of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, which received presidential assent on March 4, 2015.

The provision allowed any police officer to stop and search a person suspected of possessing the meat of cow, bull or bullock slaughtered outside Maharashtra. It also empowered police to enter homes to carry out searches. The state had banned cow slaughter in 1976.

In its appeal filed before the SC, the Devendra Fadnavis government said the HC erroneously held privacy to be a fundamental right and struck down Section 5D permitting the police to enter homes, stop and search a person on suspicion of possessing beef.

The state said the May 6, 2016, judgment could not have held privacy to be a fundamental right as at that time, the field was occupied by two SC judgments – one by an eight-judge bench in M P Sharma case in 1954 and another by a six-judge bench in Kharak Singh case in 1962 – declaring right to privacy as not a fundamental right. It is only now that a nine-judge bench is examining the status of privacy as a constitutional right, it said.

“Obviously, the HC failed to appreciate the law in its correct perspective, besides failing to observe judicial discipline, which is the foundation stone of the entire justice delivery system,” the state said in its appeal .The HC had also struck down Section 9B which put the onus on the person, in whose possession beef was found, to prove his innocence. It had termed this a breach of Article 21.

The Maharashtra government has said, “The HC failed to consider that in a similar manner, to the Act in question, presumptions have been raised against accused and reverse burden has been placed on accused in different laws – Essential Commodities Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Wildlife Protection Act, Foreign Exchange Management Act, Food Adulteration Act and Customs Act.”

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In a unique effort at inter-faith collaboration and dialogue, Goa's influential Muslims and the Roman Catholic Church have come together in the state backing a civil society collective called Goa for Beef — Beef for Goa.

Also, the Qureshi Meat Traders Association filed a writ petition Monday before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, seeking a stay on the May 26 central notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter. The Qureshi Meat Traders Association, part of the collective, made the Union and state governments respondents in the petition — the Manohar Parrikar government has been silent on the central notification that has hit Goa’s meat industry and tourism. The collective expects to hear the “justification behind the ban on trading at cattle markets”.
 
Anwar Bepari, representing the Qureshi Meat Traders Association, said one of the important points raised in the petition is the ban on purchase of animals for religious sacrifice. “This is important for us because in two months we have Bakr Eid which will open other issues if this notification goes through.”
 
The collective, which has held meetings at the Clergy Home in Margao, was formed after the June 1 incident when trucks travelling to transport bullocks were stopped at the Goa-Karnataka border following the central notification.
 
Abdul Matin, representing the Muslim community, said the collective was formed because they found no representation from the new government on the beef issue. “We were tired of their silence when other state governments and chief ministers were sending letters against the notification,” Matin said.
 
Calling the collective a product of “inter-faith dialogue”, Father Savio Fernandes, its co-convener, said “it was the need of our times”. He is also executive secretary of Council for Social Justice and Peace, “a body of the Church” formed in 2005 to look into cases of rights violations.
 
“We were quiet but now the issue affects livelihood and is an act of infringement,” Father Fernandes said of the central notification.
 
“In this collective, there are three formal members — the Church’s body, that is this office; the Muslim community; and, representatives of the meat traders in Goa. We have come together specifically for this issue as this is is a direct attack on the secular nature of our country. We now feel that the time has come where we will have to meet more often than before. Inter-faith dialogues will have to increase,” he said.
 
In meetings in Margao and at the office of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, convenors and meat traders highlighted loss of livelihood because of the notification — the state relies on cattle markets in Karnataka and the slaughter house in Ponda for beef.
 
“Beef was always the cheapest food in Goa and forms an important weekend dish in most households. Even our traditional cuisine is styled around beef,” Father Fernandes said. “Priests have been sending us feedback from the people. In fact, we are seeing it ourselves.
 
Many restaurants in Goa have started putting ‘beef not served here’ signs… they do not want trouble,” he said.
 
Bepari said: “Without the market, there is no space to look. With incidents of lynching, one cannot travel anywhere and pick up cattle from any farmer. We are telling our problems to the court through this writ petition since no one seems to be representing us. We are looking to see if there are legal remedies available. Livelihood is not just restricted to us, there are many sectors that will be affectednds

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The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Aizwal on June 12, was compelled to assert a Constitutional truism: he said that people are free to choose what they want to eat, reported PTI. When asked about protests against the government’s ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, Singh clarified that the Centre will not impose any restrictions on one’s choice of food.

However, even as Singh spoke, scores of people in the Mizoram capital participated in a “beef ban bashing banquet” organised by a local organisation, according to PTI. Thousands braced heavy rainfall to gather at Vanapa Hall where the festival was held by the Zolife Group and other activists.

A writer and a member of the group, Lalrinfela Hauhnar, said a feast in Mizoram was incomplete without beef on the menu. “Beef has strong cultural importance for the Mizos,” He told The Sangai Express. Another member, Lalremruata Varte, clarified that the festival was a symbolic protest and not meant to hurt the sentiment of Hindus.

Other Northeastern states have also protested against the Centre’s new rule. In Meghalaya, two senior BJP leaders and 5,000 workers had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party as a mark of their protest against the ban. On Monday, the Meghalaya Assembly had
passed a resolution against a central government notification.

In March, the BJP had indicated that its call for a ban on beef is not applicable to states in the country’s North East. Party leaders in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland had said that the crackdown on meat shops and slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh would not be replicated in the three north-eastern states that will have their Assembly polls next year.
 

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This is the second state after Kerala to do so. Even Karnataka has opposed the Centre's move.

Cutting across political lines, the members of the Assembly supported the resolution tabled by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma.
 
“This House takes a strong note of the shortcomings and infirmities in these Rules (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Regulation of Livestock Markets Rules, 2017), as notified and resolves that the same may be withdrawn by Government of India with an immediate effect, so as to maintain the federal and secular character of our Constitution or be faced with a situation where the law prohibits some activity , while the everyday-life practices it on a large-scale due to harsh economic realities, a situation surely to be avoided at all costs,“ the resolution read.
 
The notification, it said, “travels way beyond the scope and object as set out in the Preamble of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960“, thus infringing the rights of states to regulate the items enlisted in State List (List-II of VII Schedule to Constitution of India).
 
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had issued the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 on May 23.
 
Sangma alleged that the notification was “designed to affect“ the people of the north-east in general and Meghalaya in particular.

This move comes as a huge challenge to the hegemonic policies of the Modi regime.
 

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