Slamming the Uttar Pradesh government’s crackdown against slaughterhouses in the state, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Assaduddin Owaisi highlighted BJP’s hypocrisy on Saturday saying in Uttar Pradesh cow is mummy but in the Northeast it’s yummy, as quoted by news agency ANI. His remarks come in the backdrop of the UP government’s decision to shut down illegal slaughter houses in the state, although critics point out that the move is largely aimed at meat sellers in general.
The government, however, clarified that the crackdown is only against the ones operating illegally. In a statement in Lok Sabha, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated that what has been done in UP is about illegal slaughterhouses, adding that “Be it meat or be it anything else, we don’t want anything happening illegally. The chief minister himself has stated it very clearly. He is talking about illegal slaughterhouses being shut. On that, there cannot be a difference of opinion.”
The minister was responding to a question raised by Owaisi who wanted to know whether the government would promote buffalo meat export or if it wanted to ban it. Owaisi also sought to know what the government was doing to get China to allow buffalo meat exported by India.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Friday amended the state’s Animal Preservation Bill to entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a minimum of 10 years for cow slaughter. The Bill was was passed in the assembly in the absence of the Opposition Congress.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said he wanted to make Gujarat a ‘shakahari (vegetarian)’ while adding that he wasn’t against any food. “We do not want Jersey cows, but Gir and Kankreji cows instead,” added Rupani.
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