Cows and Idiots

ban on possession and consumption of beef and will argue that M.P’s model of banning possession and consumption is likely to pass constitutional muster whereas wider bans in Gujarat’s anti-cow slaughter law and Karnataka’s draft bill might well be unconstitutional.

s.5 of the 2010 M.P law provides that “No person shall have in his possession or shall transport beef of any cow progeny slaughtered in contravention of the provisions of this Act.” I do not think the claim that M.P’s ban is unique is entirely accurate. s.8 of the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994 also contains a similar prohibition on possession on flesh of cattle slaughtered in contravention of that Act.  The model of prohibition invoked in the laws legislated by M.P and Delhi is limited to possession of meat that is procured as a result of a slaughter that is in contravention of the Act as opposed to a much wider and general prohibition on beef per se. This narrower model is likely to pass constitutional muster because it is in tune with the justificatory framework for anti-cow slaughter laws accepted by the Supreme Court. States have claimed and been allowed the legislative power to prohibit cow slaughter on grounds of protecting agricultural interests in the State under List II and therefore a ban on possessing beef procured in contravention of such a legislation would seem justified.

However, what would clearly be unconstitutional is a much wider ban on the possession of beef per se as provided for in s. 6B of the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2011 and also in Karnataka’s 2010 anti-cow slaughter bill awaiting Presidential assent. Given that main argument for anti-cow slaughter legislations has been to safeguard the right of individual States to further their agricultural interests as they deem fit, there is no reason why the people in Gujarat or Karnataka cannot possess and consume beef imported from States where cow slaughter is permitted. Since such an import of beef does not interfere with Gujarat’s right to promote agriculture by preventing the slaughter of cow within its boundaries, there is no nexus between the scope of the ban and the purpose of the legislation.

The butchers at Bangalore’s largest beef market, in Shivajinagar, are a worried lot. On March 19, the Karnataka State Assembly passed a Bill that proposes to ban completely the slaughter of cattle in Karnataka.

“I see this as a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] government in the State against minorities and backward castes,” said Suhail, a young butcher whose livelihood depends on the procurement and sale of beef.

“While theBill seems to be targeted at Muslims, what the State has overlooked is that almost all the people involved in the associated trades are non-Muslims,” he said His estimate of the number of people is not backed by any documentary evidence, but there is no doubt that if all the people involved in all the ancillary trades of the beef industry are enumerated, it will be a huge figure.

Members of Dalit communities across the State have protested against the Bill, saying that it is a case of interference with their food habits and fulfilment of the upper-caste, Hindutva agenda of “Sanskritisation”.

Karnataka, especially its coastal areas, has routinely been the target of right-wing groups who use the cow slaughter issue to create communal tensions. Skirmishes follow allegations of transporting of cows for slaughter.

In March 2005, a 60-year-old man and his son were stripped, paraded and beaten in public for trying to buy a calf in Udupi district. In another incident in May 2006 in the same district, an elderly Hindu man was killed for being a middleman in the sale of cows. The involvement of fundamentalist organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Yuva Sena was alleged in both these incidents.

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:Dont try to cop out and divert...

Here is a question begging for your answer:

Did your muslim friends break the Delhi law or not?

confuzzled dude wrote:

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:Dont try to cop out and divert...

Here is a question begging for your answer:

Did your muslim friends break the Delhi law or not?

cop out? Where did the article say that they were indulged in cow slaughtering? if they indeed were these guys would have notified the police, not have taken alleged/rumors route, comprende?

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

confuzzled dude wrote:

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:Dont try to cop out and divert...

Here is a question begging for your answer:

Did your muslim friends break the Delhi law or not?

cop out? Where did the article say that they were indulged in cow slaughtering? if they indeed were these guys would have notified the police, not have taken alleged/rumors route, comprende?

BY Delhi Law, even if they had possession of Beef they broke the law. No need to indulge in Slaughter - per Delhi Law.

why would hindus go and beat up muslims on their own holy day. The newsitem clearly shows the muslims were eating beef - or, are you claiming that the muslims have given up on beef and started eating pig?

confuzzled dude wrote:
How do you know it is not buff? Again, why did they not file a complaint with appropriate authorities, if they were so sure of cow slaughtering in that area.