The battle of the right to freedom to eat meat has reached another level. Today, April 11, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court held on Tuesday that the right of traders and vendors to sell or trade meat or meat products “even if fundamental, has to yield to the public to food safety”. The court was hearing applications moved by aggrieved meat vendors and associations in Gujarat over the closure of their establishments for reasons such as selling unstamped meat, selling meat in unhygienic conditions or through unlicensed shops etc.

In another public interest litigation seeking a ban on illegal and unlicenced slaughterhouses and meat shops, the Gujarat High Court had earlier called on civic body authorities to act against those selling meat in violation of statutory laws. Following actions like the sealing and closure of such shops, several vendors, meat shop associations and owners had moved the Gujarat High Court, seeking to join as a party to the PIL which had been allowed.

A total of four applications were filed by the aggrieved meat vendors/sellers/associations. Three of these were all rejected by the court on Tuesday. In one application, 21 people had sought for passing an order to open the seal of chicken meat shops in Surat, reported The Indian Express. Besides, in two other applications, similar directions were sought to reopen the premises or shops or slaughterhouses of the members of the applicant association engaged in the slaughtering of small animals such as goats and sheep and further to permit the sale of mutton. Here the claim of the authorities was that laid down norms were not being followed.

The applicant petitioners had also prayed that state authorities be directed to apply the statutory provisions “pragmatically” while simultaneously permitting the applicant members to continue their business of selling the meat. The applicants had argued for their fundamental right to freedom of trade and that the closure of meat shops was illegal and amounted to deprivation and curtailment of their right to free trade. Significantly, though it was also submitted that the month of Ramadan is underway, therefore, the state should liberally act to redress the grievance of the applicants to permit them to sell the meat by allowing the opening of the shops.

During submissions, both sides, the aggrieved meat sellers and restaurant owners parties argued that the provision of selling stamped meat requires approval or licence by state-authorised slaughterhouses to approve the meat quality, and to that effect, Gujarat has eight authorised slaughterhouses, of which only three are operational. This makes it extremely difficult to function.

The court in its order observed, “Permission to reopen the meat shops cannot be granted even though the shop owners remain noncompliant of the laws. While the indirect prayer before the court is to relax the norms, such course is not possible in law. There is no challenge to any of the provisions of the Acts or regulations. No order could be passed by the court which may operate contrary to or may have the effect of disregarding the statutory prescriptions in respect of food safety and other regulatory norms required to be observed in larger public good.”

Petitioners had also submitted that the state has also failed in discharging its duties that require it to construct slaughterhouses and dedicated meat markets to regularise the vendors’ businesses. It was highlighted that meat vendors have been making repeated representations to the state government regarding the same but the requests have gone unheard so far. The consequences of the state’s abdication of ensuring that statutory norms be followed cannot be heaped on citizens argued the petitioners.

Senior advocate Percy Kavina, arguing on behalf of the aggrieved meat shop owners/vendors, had also argued that adhering to such a regulation is impractical and dissonant with the ground reality. “The idea that every meat carcass has to be stamped by a vet is so outrageous.

As per estimates, a high 63% of the population of Gujarat is occasionally non-vegetarian. These approved abattoirs are located in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. Where do you think the rest of the meat comes from? This is an ideal thing…the state government cannot say that since now we have a handle, we will implement the law with a rigour and strictness which is impossible to. The slaughterhouse in Jamalpur, it is the state government that does not give them any facilities — they do not give water, they do not have waste disposal, they do not repair the structure and then they (petitioner) say ‘go there with a doctor’,” Kavina argued.

The bench of Justices N V Anjaria and Niral Mehta, while deciding the applications moved by the aggrieved parties, noted that “any fundamental right is subjected to reasonable restrictions” and held that the right to trade has to also subserve to public health, food safety requirements and a consumer’s right to safe food.

“The provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Food Safety Regulations as applicable to the meat business and meat shops, the regulatory and hygienic measures contemplated for the meat shops and slaughterhouses in the said law and the rules, the other laws seeking to fulfill the purpose of insulating the animals from cruelty and cruel acts, pollution and environment laws required to be observed by the meat vendors, are all limiting factors, which will operate as reasonable restrictions on the right of the vendors of the meat and slaughterhouse owners to run their business. In their degree, they are restrictive measures, which really do not prohibit running the meat business or slaughterhouses but requires the compliance of the norms,” the court held.

“Right to freedom of trade may be a fundamental right, but not a carte blanche. The above laws are enacted and operate in public good and public interest. The freedom to trade or right to do business have to yield the public health norms and the restrictive compulsions needed to be enforced in larger public good. The right to free trade in food items like meat, or any such food has to be subserving to public health and food safety requirements,” the court said.

The bench said that the applicants can “not be permitted to assert unrestricted freedom” to do business in meat or run slaughterhouses “on the ground of religious occasion when they are otherwise non-compliant of the norms in law”.

“A bare ground may not be permitted to be advanced to justify to seek laxity in the food safety or pollution norms. The activity of running unlicensed slaughterhouses and selling unstamped meat could not be approved or permitted without the stakeholders complying the applicable laws. Viewed from another angle, for the consumers of any food including the meat and meat products, there is a right to have safe food,” the bench further held.

The Order of the High Court may be read here:

For the past few years, there has been an assault on the sale and consumption of meat by various state authorities. Late last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies in Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Junagadh in Gujarat ordered roadside food vendors and hawkers to cover non-vegetarian food, including eggs, saying an open display of the food could “hurt religious sentiments”. The roadside vendors had been asked to either stop selling non-vegetarian food items or keep them covered so that people cannot see them while passing on the roads or walking on footpaths.

Related:

Allahabad HC bats for tolerance, but refuses to strike down meat and liquor sale ban

Meat sale banned in Ghaziabad, demands brew for a repeat in MP

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Image: Indian Express

The Indian nobility was so badly demoralized and pauperized that it was in no position to dispute much less challenge this sacrilege of their prized heritage. That was when the butchers of Meerut and vicinity rose and offered to buy back the place from the British and restore it as a mosque. And they paid a princely price in those days of Rs 12 crore to buy back the Jama Masjid and restore its preeminence.

Such was the monetary strength of the butchers among the Muslim community. Even today Makki mian’s palatial house is situated opposite Jama Masjid alongside Chawri Bazar/Dariba Kalan, close to where they sell the fireworks. Makki mian’s forefathers had collected the amount and handed over to the British. Makki mian himself must have died several decades ago.

It is not for nothing that the Hindutva outfits have targeted the meat trade, for this, they have keenly observed, will break the economic backbone of the Muslims.

So, the first thing Yogi Adityanath did on assuming the office of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh was to attack the meat trade, fully aware that this more than anything will hurt the Muslims, not merely in terms of attacking their food habits but the source of sustenance, neigh prosperity of the Muslim community.

That it will also hurt the Dalits who apart from being non vegetarians are also intricately involved with the meat business in several accessory trades, including the leather industry and even the OBCs who are the main cattle traders, is an add on. So with one stroke you kill three sets of despicable non Aryan social groups.

If the object was merely to protect the cow, and we may or may not agree, but never mind that, if the object was to protect the cow and mind you not the bullock or an ageing bull, least of all a buffalo or an ox, why issue the diktat to implicitly obstruct the slaughter of the buffaloes as well? Because, the real purpose is to close the cottage meat industry and remember only the next door meat seller, for the big factories owned by the Jain community, exporting from Saudi Arabia to Mexico are still running and will continue to run full steam.

The Aryavrat, even Rajasthan High Court judge Mahesh Chand Sharma, has never put any premium on the buffalo. Buffalo is black and only the Yamaraj, himself black, rides the black animal. There is no religious sanctity attached to the buffalo in any Hindu text.

So the Hindutva brigade and their private army of cow vigilantes are not fired by any love for their religion or the alleged hurt to their religious sentiments. It’s what Guru Golwalkar said long ago: “The Muslims will seek nothing and expect nothing.” They will live merely on sufferance. Under the current dispensation what else should be expected?

So in this far right establishment the Muslims will not become second class citizens, they already are reduced to that state. For decades the RSS/BJP were looking at neighbouring Pakistan with amazement and dare say,appreciation: “If they can achieve this why can’t we?” . Pakistan has been their ideal for all of the 70 years of its creation, and we are copying Pakistan in every which way, unmindful of what a situation that country has landed themselves in.

1977 elections were my first opportunity to cast my vote and like many others I too was campaigning actively for defeating Indira Gandhi. My best friend and class fellow from AMU Hari Kishan Sharma, no leftist, was dismayed at my rooting for the Janata Party pointing out what a communal rabble rouser Atal Bihari Vajpayee was then. But I brushed him aside. But as soon as Vajpayee became India’s External Affairs Minister, where did he go first? To Islamabad to enjoy the hospitality of that mullah in khaki General Mohammad Zia-ul Haq to virtually endorse the dismissal of the first constitutionally elected government of Pakistan led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto was hanged later and thanks to Vajpayee presiding over the Foreign office, we refused to condemn that judicial murder by Zia ul Haq.

Soon as Vajpayee became the Prime Minister he headed Lahore wards yet again with much fanfare to bless the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Then, soon after NDA went out of power. L K Advani led a large contingent to Pakistan and travelled all around from Lahore to Islamabad to Karachi.

Now our very own Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi, first thing he thought even before being sworn in was to beckon Nawaz Sharif to come and join in the celebrations which he did. Mind you, I am all for very cordial diplomatic relations with Pakistan and regular exchange of people and people to people dialogue. Bu we are here talking of those who said “Doob maro, doob maro ( go drown yourself)” when Pakistan’s Prime Minister came to pay obeisance at Ajmer Dargah.

The point is that while the Sangh fans hatred and anger against Muslims, in India or Pakistan, they are bewitched by the Pakistani model of governance and are ever ready to emulate that. There was one difference though: we bet that the ethos of democracy is so ingrained in us in India that we can never become a military dictatorship. Seeing the way the Army is today being made into a holy cow, and the way that out of turn promotee General Bipin Rawat is gloating about Major Gogoi for tying a Kashmiri youth as a human shield to his vehicle, I can’t say how far we are from a military takeover now.

(Faraz Ahmad is a senior journalist based in New Delhi).

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Manish had gone to meet the district magistrate of Varanasi with a delegation asking for permission or some action for opening of closed meat shops before Ramadan. The shops were closed in March after the newly-elected Yogi government in the state enacted the order for closure of illegal or temporary meat shops.

The delegation accused district administration for taking inappropriate action against Manish Sharma and said that DM could have had at least assured of prompt action or could have threatened to disperse the protest, but protest alone cannot be termed as a legal charge.

The small-level meat traders in the state are facing critical situation since the Yogi Government in Uttar Pradesh hit on the illegal meat shops in the Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier yesterday, All India Qureshi Vikas Manch and Al-Quresh Welfare Society in Varanasi also warned government for indefinite sit-in at all the district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh, if their demand to open meat shops for Ramadan does not meet.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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Cathal McNaughton/Reuters
 

For all her clamour to forge a Dalit-Muslim social alliance before Uttar Pradesh went to the polls, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati has been inexplicably indifferent to the strike by the meat industry to protest the closing down of abattoirs and sealing of retail shops in the state. It would seem that Mayawati’s vision of subaltern politics is confined to gathering votes of Muslims and forgetting them till the next election is round the corner.

It might seem unfair to hurl this charge against Mayawati alone. After all, in the February-March Assembly elections, both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress entered into an electoral alliance to consolidate the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh behind them. Neither has been provoked to take to the streets now.

Yet any criticism of the three parties against their inaction on the meat issue in Uttar Pradesh must begin with Mayawati. Given the radical possibility of Dalit-Muslim unity – the first manifestation of which was BP Maurya winning on the Republican Party of India ticket in Aligarh in 1962 – Mayawati rekindled hopes of it through her election speeches.

She never failed to remind us that she had given a whopping 100 tickets to Muslims, and sought to convince the community that should it align with her Dalit supporters, the Bahujan Samaj Party would become a bulwark against the Hindutva storm. She assumed that Muslims would not want proof of her having worked for them before they bought into the Dalit-Muslim unity call of hers.

Her clarion call for Dalit-Muslim unity lacked in credibility as she had not even cared to visit Muzaffarnagar in 2013, when it was rocked by bloody riots. Perhaps she believed an expression of sympathy for Muslims would outrage the Hindu self of Dalit voters.

After all, in 21st century India, visiting Muslims whose loved ones have been killed, wounded or raped is likely to be construed as a policy of appeasing them, of ignoring Hindus, whether Dalits or upper castes. We do not expect politicians to take this risk, not even those who have pretensions of effecting social transformation.

But the politics of meat unfolding in Uttar Pradesh does not have this risk because the meat in question is not beef, but chicken, mutton and buffalo. The politics in this state is more about Hindutva’s passion for vegetarianism, upholding the tradition that frowns on meat, and weakening the economic base of the upwardly-mobile Qureshi community.

This has prompted the rabble rouser-turned-Chief Minister Adityanath to create a Catch-22 situation. It is the municipality’s responsibility to ensure that hygienic conditions are maintained in abattoirs, for which a fee is charged for every animal slaughtered. But municipalities are notorious for not discharging their duties, because of which slaughterhouses have supposedly become intolerably unhygienic.

So these have been closed down and meat shops sealed, even those that have the requisite licence. If there isn’t a slaughterhouse running, shopkeepers can access meat only through illegal ones. Better to close them down then. They have been penalised for the municipality’s dereliction of duty.

Stung by the irrationality of the Hindutva regime, the Muslim subgroup of Jamiatul Quresh has gone on a strike, quite understandable as its members dominate the meat trade. Should its charter of demands not be met by April 20, it will extend the meat strike to all India.
 

Mayawati’s inaction

But against the political perfidy of the Adityanath government, Mayawati does not have a speech to deliver, whether from a pre-prepared text or extempore. Here is her opportunity to cobble Dalit-Muslim unity. While the Qureshis dominate the retail meat trade, the animal skins are sent to tanneries which Dalits own or in which they are employed in large numbers. Meat, including beef, is also not taboo for Dalits.
 

It is hard to explain Mayawati’s inaction on the meat issue. Perhaps she fears her support for meat would be projected as a policy of appeasing Muslims that might eventually alienate a segment of her core support group of Dalits.

Yet another reason was provided by a key Bahujan Samaj Party functionary in West Uttar Pradesh.

“The cadres are being told that Brahmins feel alienated because a Rajput has been made a chief minister,” the functionary said. “Mayawati thinks the Brahmins can still be won over.” This suggests that Mayawati does not wish to plunge into the politics of meat with a counter-narrative perhaps because she fears it would not be to the liking of Brahmins.

Either way then, for this champion of subaltern assertion, the interests of Muslims must be subordinated to those of Hindu social groups. It is altogether a different matter that a 2014 government survey showed that over 50% of Uttar Pradesh ate meat. Dalits and Muslims together constitute roughly 40% of the state. Since both have a large chunk of poor who cannot afford meat, consumption of it can be said to cut across religious and caste divides.
 

SP and Congress silent too

In this extraordinary display of pusillanimity and chicanery, just about every political leader in India is implicated. Take the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, whose family acquired heft because of Muslim support. Yet he has not come out on the streets to protest against the closure of abattoirs and meat shops.

It is easy to see why. His core supporters are Yadavs, who, because of their traditional occupation of animal husbandry, were principal supporters of the Gau Rakshini Sabhas at the time these mushroomed in the late 19th century. They still are – many of those accused of killing the Muslim man in Alwar for ferrying cows were Yadavs.

Since the vigilantism over the anti-cow slaughter has framed the debate over meat in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav is perhaps paranoid that in batting for non-beef meat he would be sending a wrong signal to the vegetarians among Yadavs, his core supporters, and the upwardly mobile among them who are said to have become amenable to Hindutva. Silence is therefore Yadav’s favoured strategy.

It is hard to expect the Congress to take to the streets. Not only is the party moribund organisationally, it still has a nostalgia for its Brahminical past, which it hopes will one day become its present as well. The Brahminical position, revised over many centuries, is that meat should be shunned. It is altogether a different matter that Brahmins in East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as in many parts of India, love their mutton and fish.
 

It, therefore, does not surprise that only Muslims are left to rage over the meat crackdown in isolation. Because the Jamiatul Quresh is a caste-occupational association, it cannot possibly draw other Muslim and Hindu consumers of meat, or even vegetarians who might feel food is a matter of choice, to join its protests. This only the political parties can.
 

Politics of meat as a test

But they will not because of their unfounded fears of alienating the Hindus, many of whom have meat in their diet. Sure, the hypocritical, unconscionable silence of non-Hindutva parties on meat will anger Muslims. But political leaders feel in this era of resurgent Hindutva, Muslims will have no choice but to vote for one of them. They choose to fritter away their energies in fighting against each other than Hindutva.

It is to counter this dominant political psychology why a clutch of Muslim parties have surfaced. They are not stupid to not know that their chances of garnering Hindu votes in numbers that could give them a large number of seats are indeed remote. But their logic behind fielding candidates is that if they can poll a substantial share of Muslim votes, might not non-Hindutva parties fearing defeat begin to address the issues pertaining to the community?

If such Muslim parties have not yet had traction, it is only because the community has not yet given up hope on non-Hindutva parties. But, certainly, their patience is running thin, slowly being driven to desperation by the indifference of political parties that love their votes but not them.
Indeed, the politics of meat is a test for non-Hindutva parties, an opportunity for them to discover their voices and engage in criticism and protests. Otherwise, woe betide them, for they would prove they are neither anti-Hindutva nor deserving of Muslim votes, and on their way to gradually become an inverted version of “sickular.”

Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist in Delhi. His novel, The Hour Before Dawn, has as its backdrop the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Courtesy: Scroll.in

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The division has issued further orders that within the next 10 days the administration must also provide facilities for a slaughter house for goats and chicken at the distance of every two kilometers, the Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara has reported. 

Fixing April 30 as the next date of hearing, the court said it will hold the administration accountable for the execution of its orders.

The orders were passed by a two-judge bench of Justice AP Shahi and Justice Sanjay Harkoli on a PIL filed by Saeed Ahmed and others from Bahraich. The petition had pleaded that the non-renewal of licenses has adversely affected the livelihood of lakhs of people in the state.

It was contended by the petitioners that their shops had been rendered illegal simply because acting in an unconstitutional manner the administration had failed to renew their licenses.

Meanwhile, a separate news item in the Rashtriya Sahara reports that on Monday another bench from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has issued notice to the municipal corporation in response to a writ petition pertaining to non-renewal of licenses of traders selling buffalo meat. The corporation has been directed to file its response today (April 4).

The order was passed by Justice SN Shukla and Justice SK Singh on a petition filed by advocate Girish Chandra on behalf of one Shahabuddin and others.

A report on the petition filed by Sabrang India may be read here. Read the full text of the petition.

English translation of the reports published by the Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara)

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Question: Who loves the ‘Gau Mata’ most of all? Pick any one of the following:

(a) Yogi Adityanath, whose top priority as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is to go after not only those who dare kill a cow or its progeny (that in any case was banned in UP) but even those selling mutton and chicken?

(b) Vijay Rapani, Chief Minister of Gujarat, whose government successfully piloted an amended law in the state prescribing life in prison for anyone engaged in cow slaughter?

(c) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which has demanded that the BJP government in Maharashtra replicates the new Gujarat law?

(d) The BJP ruled states of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, MP or Jharkhand who, took their cue from the Yogi of UP promptly started a crackdown on slaughter houses and retail shops in their respective states.

If you picked any one of the above, you could be mistaken. Perhaps no one loves the holy cow more than Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Granted, he was a bit late on the uptake. But when he spoke on Saturday, he seemed to leave all others behind in his love for the bovine. Anyone who kills a cow in his state will be hanged, he declared.

Responding to a question from reporters whether his government was contemplating a tougher against cow slaughter, he queried in turn: "Is cow slaughter happening anywhere in the state? Have any cows been killed in our state in the last 15 years?" Then, with a smile, he said: "Jo gai ko marega, unko latka denge (We will hang those who kill a cow)."

Rubbishing the CM’s claim, the state Congress general secretary, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said cow slaughter is rampant even in places close to the state capital but no effective action seems to have been taken. 
     
Trivedi even alleged that people associated with the ruling BJP were involved in the transportation of cattle for slaughter.

"The talk about hanging those who kill cows is just an attempt by the chief minister to go with the flow of BJP”, he remarked.
 

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Last week top BJP leaders from the Christian-predominant states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland issued statements claiming that a ban on cow slaughter is not on the party’s agenda in the three north-eastern states where Assembly polls are due next year.

During the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA government’s rule at the Centre, BJP leaders from Nagaland had threatened to walk out of the party if any attempt was made to ban cow slaughter in the state.

PTI has reported Owaisi as saying that the BJP's hypocrisy is that in Uttar Pradesh cow is revered as a mother but in the Northeast the animal's meat is part of the normal diet.

In the past week, following in the footsteps of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the BJP-ruled states in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have targeted slaughter houses and even retail shops selling mutton and chicken

On Friday, the Gujarat government amended an existing law, making cow slaughter punishable with a life sentence. In Maharashtra, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal have demanded that the BJP-led government replicates the new Gujarat law in the state.
 

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The Gujarat government on Friday amended the Animal Preservation Bill providing for stringent punishment for cow slaughter. Whereas the earlier law provided for punishment ranging from three to five years, the punishment now will be 10 years at the minimum to life term at the maximum. The offence has been made non-bailable.

Speaking in the Assembly during the debate, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that while he was “not against any food” he wanted to turn Gujarat into a fully shakahari (vegetarian) state. Gujarat, he added, was a “unique state” which followed Mahatma Gandhi’s tenets of “truth and non-violence”.

“This is not a bill but a feeling of crores of Indians. It is my humble attempt to give voice to the cows being killed by butchers. A single drop of cow blood falling on earth pains Hindus”, said Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja while introducing the Bill in the House.

Adding that he was “proud to be a Hindu”, Jadeja turned to the visitors’ gallery to pay his respects to the “Hindu saints” around 300 of whom were there to witness the passage of the Bill.  

The House however was bereft of the Opposition since the Speaker had suspended the Congress MLAs for creating a ruckus.

The punishment for illegal transportation of cows, beef or beef products in the new Act has been increased from three years to seven years. The vehicles used for transportation will be confiscated by the government and the penalty for the offence has been increased from Rs. 50,000 earlier to from Rs 1 lakh-5 lakh now.  

Meanwhile, the Times of India reports that with the Ranchi Municipal Corporation having refused to renew the license of all meat shops until new regulations are drafted, Jharkhand’s capital city Ranchi will turn vegetarian from Saturday.

The chief executive officer of the city corporation, Prashant Kumar told the Times of India that all existing licenses expired on March 31 and renewals have been put on hold. “We are framing new regulations, following which all meat shops and slaughter houses for new licenses.

A separate report in Times of India says hardline Hindu organizations in Bengaluru want 1,700 meat shops in the city to close down. They are taking their cue from the BJP-ruled states of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, MP and Jharkhand who following in the footsteps of the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government have been targeting slaughter houses and meat shops in their respective states.

Meanwhile VHP and Bajrang Dal activists from Vidarbha have called on the Maharashtra government to replicate the new Gujarat law making cow slaughter punishable with a life term.
 
 

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Image: IBNlive.com
 
The deliberate and obdurateness of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation and other local authorities is today endangering the livelihoods of approximately 400 meat/slaughter shops and their employees, despite the fact that owners of these establishments have been with regularity applying not just for renewal of their licenses but supporting the need for a Mechanised Slaughterhouse.
 
The matter has become acute especially given the arbitrary actions of the newly elected BJP government that, with no concern for rules or due process has authorized policemen to go around intimidating and bullying meat shop owners and traders. Over 90 per cent of these belong to the Muslim Quraish community. No notices have been served on any of the meat traders or slaughter houses against whom such violent and arbitrary actions have been unleashed.
 
On March 28, Sabrangindia had reported on the writ petition on the issue filed by advocate Girish Chandra  on which the Lucknow Bench of the High Court had asked serious questions to the administration. Sabrangindia has a copy of this petition that may be read here.  During the hearing of the matter of March 27, the HC directed the District Administration Ordered to Explain Non-Renewal of Licenses. Moreover the state government was asked to produce chied minister Adityanath’s directive before the Court. Sabrangindia has reliably learned that no such directive has been passed. The Court had expressed extreme displeasure over the  arbitrary manner in which the administration has been acting on the UP government's directive for shutting down "illegal" slaughterhouses. The Lucknow municipal corporation has been asked to explain why it us not renewing licenses.

April 3 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.

According to the Chandra, "poor meat traders are being made to pay a heavy price because of the mal-administrarion of the government and the city corporation." He added, "despite the Environment Ministry's notification that all slaughterhouses must be licensed, the civic bodies failed to issue licenses to over 300 slaughterhouses in UP. Nor did they renew licenses." In 2015 itself, Chandra had filed a petition on behalf of 412 meat traders, demanding renewal of their licenses but no action has been taken till date. 
 
 
The petition makes a strong case for the right of a citizen to conduct business as guaranteed by and protected by the Constitution of India. For over 250 years into the meat trade and business, the 200 families of the Qureshi community feed 15 lakhs of the non-vegetarian population of Lucknow. As law abiding citizens they have not only followed the law, but applied for regular renewals in according to procedures. Since 1959 they have applied and renewed licenses annually paying the fees and have had valid licenses good, valid and effective till March 31, 2015. Despite several applications for renewal since on different dates in the office of Municipal Commissioner in-between the last week of February as well as first week of March, 2015, these were not renewed despite payment of the Rs 1,000 fee. The petitioners have also supported the need for a Mechanised and Modernised Slaughterhouse in which their livelihood is protected and of which they are a part.
 
Despite this move to shift to a 5 hectares of land, it was the Lucknow Municipal Corporation that was not sincere and consistent in its efforts to pursue the effort. The total budget for the scheme of Rs 52 crores but this was not allocated by the government and thereafter promised in a private-p[ublic partnership model. In 2013 the corporation gave up the idea. The delay and slackness in modernizing this business (in accordance with the National Green Tribunal aqnd Courts) lies squarely with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation.. Finally the petitioners argue that they cannot be held responsible  for any delay in modernizing the slaughter house and the business of the petitioners cannot be  stopped on behest that the modernization of the slaughter house of the Municipal Corporation  is delayed the process.There are ten petitioners in the case who include Shahbudden, Rehnuma, Sahedin, Hasan Ahmed.
 
In the petition, the meat traders and businessmen have alleged that over the past six years, it is the lethargy and tardiness of the Lucknow Municipal Corporaton that has dragged its feet in renewing the licenses. Given this background, the traders cannot be held responsible for the laxity of the authorities in upgrading and modernizing the Slaughter House.
 
The petition makes out strong grounds to show how the meat traders and businessmen cannot be held responsible for the delay being caused by the Municipal Corporation in upgrading and modernizing the Slaughter House. They had not opposed, in fact supported the scheme for Modernisation and Mechanisation, wanting to be part and parcel of the effort.
 
 
Historical Background
 
The petition traces the history of the city and the crucial livelihood question. Since 1700 AD when the city of Lucknow was established under the Nawabs of Audh, slowly separate Mohallas were set up for the the different professions: Yahiyaganj for the persons dealing with Utensils, Jauhari Tola for the men dealing with gem & ornaments, Kahar Tola dealing with potteries, Katai Tola for the carpenters, Phool Wali Gali for the persons dealing with flowers, Pan Dariba dealing with tobacco and allied business. Chidia Bazar was established for the market and residence of the persons, who were doing business of birds and other species. Those persons, who opted to indulge in the business to sell fish, flash/meat, eggs etc. were settled in Mohalla Billauchhpura, where atleast 200 persons were dealing with this business and all of them belong to Qureshi community. About 100 shops sell flash of goats, hen as well as buffaloes in Mohalla Billauchhpura. Now with the expansion of the limits of the town, atleast 400 more shops have been established in different parts Lucknow.             
           
After the Nawans were dethroned in 1857, under the British Government and thereafter under the Local Self-Government, an arrangement was made for slaughtering of animals in the outskirts of Lucknow in an area called Moti Jheel, which was an abandoned and far away place from the abadi at that time. After quite some time, a building of slaughter house was also constructed in that area, which was managed by the then Local Self-Government.  In 1959, after the incorporation of the Municipal Corporation Act, under section 426 of the said Act, the sale of meat was regulated by way of issuing appropriate licenses:
 
“The place where, chicken/hen, goat, buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered and sold will be called a meat shop and where these animals are slaughtered will be called ‘Slaughter House’. Separate licenses will be needed to open and operate a meat shop and the Slaughter House. As per Section 426 of the Act, no person shall without license from Nagar Ayukt, sell or expose any animal or any article in the market and any person contravening this Section may be summarily removed by any Mahapalika Officer or Servant.”
 
Hence, it was since 1959, that the Nagar Nigham started issuing license, which were valid for one fiscal year and thereafter they were renewed after receiving the renewal charges. To collectively deal with the administration, the butchers from the Qureishi community established a foundation in the name of Quresh Welfare Foundation.
 

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