Beef With Beef

Our country over a few years has been embroiling over the dispute and dissention of the slaughter of cow and sale and consumption of cow meat. This is not a new controversy for India, in retrospect our country has always struggled with the consumption of beef. The movement of “Beef Ban” was reinforced under the Modi Government which called for a nationwide ban.

Why? The reason is simple, a Cow is considered sacred in Hinduism, and cows are the embodiment of motherhood and feminine divine. Consumption of beef in Hinduism is considered not only a sacrilege but it is apparently blasphemous. On the counter part, religions like Islamic and Christian minorities consume beef sizably.

In spite of India’s official status as a “secular” country, the ruling party of the country functions ideologically under the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu fundamentalist body, that has time and again impelled to prohibit the slaughter of cattle across the country. Ironically, we as a country are the second largest exporters of beef, although most meat exported is Buffalo meat.

Nineteen states in the country have now banned cow meat and cow slaughter. Now in some of these states, only cow meat is banned; bull, buffalo and other cattle are deemed fit for consumption. States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana had banned consumption and slaughter of all forms of cattle.

STATES/UT WHICH HAVE BANNED BEEF

Andhra Padhesh
Bihar
Chandigarh
Delhi
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Odisha
Puducherry
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Telengana
Uttar Pradesh

Additionally, other states like Goa, Daman and Diu etc. prohibit the slaughter of young calves but permit for aged and ill cows. In other states such as West Bengal and Assam, slaughter houses need to acquire a “fit for slaughter” certificate for each and every cow before it is slayed. States such as Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Kerala, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Tripura permit for slaughter of cows without needing for any documentation. Consumption of beef is tallest amongst the north eastern states of India.

In April 2017, the government of India appealed to the SC that allcows must be provided with a unique identification number, with a tamper-proof tag of plastic which will be linked to a national database, in an effort to avert and prevent cattle "smuggling" within the borders and beyond its borders.

But millions of Indians, including the Dalits of the Hindu community (formerly “untouchables” in the caste system of Hinduism), Christians and Muslims, have been consuming beef for long. It is one of the lowest costing meats available in India, making it an attractive source of protein for the country’s poor as well.