The western state of
Maharashtra in Indian has introduced a ban on beef so strict that even
possession could land you in jail for five years, media reports and the chief
minister said
Tuesday. The country’s Hindu majority considers cows sacred, and
several states already ban their slaughter. But the latest measures in
Maharashtra home to India’s commercial centre Mumbai — go even further, making
sale or possession of beef an offence punishable by a five-year jail term or a
10,000 rupee ($160) fine.
The Indian Express
newspaper said the measures became law after President Pranab Mukherjee gave
his assent to a legal amendment passed by the state parliament two decades ago.
The measures include a ban on the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, hitherto
legal with a vet’s certificate, although it will still be legal to slaughter
buffalo. Maharashtra’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted his thanks to
the president, saying “our dream of ban on cow slaughter becomes a reality
now”.
Right-wing Hindu groups in
India have long demanded a complete ban on the slaughter of all cattle, citing
religious scriptures. The main players in the beef industry are Muslims, the
country’s largest religious minority, who make up some 13 percent of India’s
1.25-billion population. Maharashtra state is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance with the far-right
Shiv Sena party.
no more beef curry
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