Cow slaughter is banned in most states in India except West Bengal, Kerala and the North East. A look at the recent history of conflicts from the states and who stands where.

 

Bhopal: One month after Narendra Modi’s landslide victory, a one-thousand strong mob went on a rampage in Ganjbasoda in Vidisha district, 80 kms from here. Following reports of cow-slaughter, the mob went rioting for three hours setting fire to 169 shops and several vehicles. The police imposed curfew for an indefinite period. This incident sparked off a sudden Hindutva-oriented cow-centric politics in the state, exactly 11 months before assembly polls. The BJP accused the government of ‘‘encouraging cow-slaughter’’ and ‘‘protecting culprits’’. Singh, on the other hand, defended himself with statistics of increase in beef production under the BJP-led NDA Union government. He then demanded a nation-wide ban on cow-slaughter by the Centre.Cow-slaughter is banned in Madhya Pradesh.

 

Lucknow: Mayawati is taking a keen interest in the implementation of a ban on cow laughter. Top bureaucrats and police officials here have turned ‘gau bhakts’ overnight. The UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 allowed only selective protection to cows. Bulls above the age of 15 not fit for breeding or agriculture, or ailing were exempted.

 

Mayawati, by an amendment in the original Act finally imposed a total ban. The new act also prohibits transportation without a permit and sale of beef except the canned variety. Recently, the recovery of dead cows form Kalpi and Jalaun have led to much communal tension in UP. In Muzaffarnagar, 200 slaughtered cows were recovered while in Kalpi the number was 402.

 

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has never had a law banning cow slaughter. In fact, according to the Vegetarian Congress, it has 95 per cent of the 30 million people meat-eaters. It imports several hundred heads of cattle everyday from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. No political party here has ever had demanded a ban. The Shiv Sena, which has only a notional presence in Kerala had organised agitations against cruelty to cattle at various entry points and en route to the Sabarimala pilgrimmage. Kolkata: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has launched a campaign and petitioned the Calcutta High Court to stop it in West Bengal.The Forward Bloc, a Left Front partner, says that cattle slaughter has never created a problem in West Bengal and the party is against any move to amend the Constitution to stop the practice.

 

Chandigarh: The killing of five dalits at Dulina police post in the Jhajjar district of Haryana on October 15 last year has still left many questions unanswered. After questions were raised about delays in action the state government ordered an enquiry by the divisional commissioner of Rohtak, but the report has not been made public. Initially the killing of five men was seen as a case of ‘mistaken’ identity, when a group of people returning from a public event ‘identified’ them. Later it was viewed as another example of mindless caste conflict in southern Haryana.

 

(Reports from Suchandana Gupta, Bhopal; PK Surendran, Thiruvananthapuram; Jayanta Gupta, Kolkata and Siddharth Singh, Chandigarh)