Kerala CM urges PM to repeal new cattle slaughter policy to save lives, livelihoods of millions

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IndiaTomorrow.net,
Thiruvananthapuram, May 27: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the new cattle trade and slaughter rules “so that the lives and livelihoods of millions of our fellow countrymen can be protected.”

In a letter to the PM, Vijayan said that “People of all faiths consume meat in our country, not just the minorities,” and it is the “primary source of protein for millions of poor and ordinary people in this country, particularly the Dalits.” “Such restrictions being imposed on the eve of Ramzan, would certainly appear to certain communities of our country as a direct attack on them,” he further said.

The restrictions will also affect the leather industry and consequently 2.5 million people of the industry.

“Once the prohibition comes into effect, it will not only deprive them of adequate nutrition, but also prevent the availability of raw material for the leather industry. More than 2.5 million people work in India’s leather industry and most of them are Dalits, especially those engaged in skinning the carcasses. Hence, this prohibition will severely affect our disadvantaged sections, in terms of both their lives and livelihoods,” Vijayan wrote in the letter.

He also expressed apprehension that animal market monitoring committees, a provision for which given in the new rule, would take upon themselves the role of Gau Rakshak Samitis.

“The rules also envisage the constitution of District Animal Market Monitoring Committees and an Animal Market Committees. The constitution of such committees to monitor cattle trade will also jeopardise the free hand trade of cattle between farmers in our country. Legitimate fears are also being raised if they would take upon themselves the role of Gau Rakshak Samitis which have conducted attacks on cattle traders and transporters in the recent past,” he said.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Friday issued notification regarding the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017.

The new rules mandate “that cattle can be traded only by those who have valid documentation that the cattle will be used only for agricultural purposes. Of the millions of farmers in our country, only a miniscule number of them have documentation to prove that they are engaged in agriculture. Therefore, it would be extremely difficult for the vast majority of our farmers to legally procure draught animals used for agriculture and other domestic purposes.”

The Kerala CM also expressed concern that states were not consulted before formulating such nationwide blanket policy adding that such trend could be detrimental to democracy in the country.

“In my own state of Kerala, vast majority of the population consume meat. So is the case with all the other South Indian states and North East Indian states. Even in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal, non-vegetarians out number vegetarians. Therefore, the new rules should have been introduced in consultation with the states. The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such a drastic move with far reaching consequences is detrimental to our democracy. I am afraid it amounts to an intrusion into the rights of the states in our federal structure. The introduction of such restrictions in a hasty manner would certainly prove to be a challenge in upholding our plurality, the essence of our nation. It would also be against the principles of secularism and federalism enshrined in our constitution,” he wrote.

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