It had to happen. Sooner or later the Maharashtra government’s recent ban on beef had to claim its first victim. And it has. A butcher in Worli in Mumbai has been arrested for stocking and selling beef. An “activist” from a cow protection group complained to the police that a butcher in his neighbourhood was selling beef and the cops promptly arrested him. The meat has been sent to a lab for DNA testing. Till then the butcher remains an accused.
This has happened even while a slew of petitions against the ban is being heard in the courts and their lordships have clearly said that till the cases are disposed of, the government should not enforce the ban. But an over enthusiastic police force does not care for such niceties. Nor do activists, or more accurately busybodies, who are likely to now spring up and go around like vigilantes, sniffing out potential ban-breakers and filing complaints. By the time justice is done, it may be too late and the accused – who could be innocent – would have his business ruined.
It is not a coincidence that the vigilante in this case is a Hindu and the accused is a Muslim. The butchers of the city come from the Qureishi community and they had expressed fears that this new regulation could be used to harass them. Though the Maharashtra government denies it, there is a communal tinge to the ban decision, even though beef is eaten by Muslims, Christians, Hindus and by the poor in general, for whom it is a great and cheap source of protein.
But more than the communal angle, it is also a question of whether the government can impose food preferences on the public. Though all manner of scientific reasons have been cited, none have been convincing enough to answer the specific question—why ban the eating (and storing) of beef and why such harsh punishment for this so-called crime. Further – and this point needs to be reiterated – the slaughter of cows was always disallowed. What the ban has done is extend this, leaving only water buffaloes out of it. Those in the know say that in any case consumers in the state got only buffalo meat earlier, so nothing substantive has changed. What has changed is the ability of the police to probe an allegation and thus upping the potential for harassment.
But the chief minister of the state seems to be pursuing his agenda with a messianic zeal. He has now decided to keep cows in his official residence Varsha. An earlier experiment by him failed because the cow could not take to Mumbai but he is undeterred. Moreover, according to newspaper reports, he thinks keeping a cow at home is a good idea and wants to make it ‘mandatory’ for legislators, ministers and even MPs from the state to keep cows at home. How these cows will fit into Mumbai’s small apartments is not known but one can be sure he will find a solution. Perhaps builders will be offered additional FSI to build larger apartments.
Jesting aside, this entire matter is a good example of the misplaced priorities of this government. Instead of tackling the genuine problems of farmers, (and of course focusing on so many more important matters, such as the irrigation crisis), the government is adding to them. Farmers are complaining that now they will have to look after their cattle instead of selling them off when they become unproductive. No less an expert than M S Swaminathan, the highly regarded agricultural scientist, has said that the ban is compounding the agony of Vidarbha farmers who can now no longer sell their bullocks. Soon we shall see cattle let loose. There is a plan to create goshallas, but how many can be built and how soon? What happens till then?
There is bound to be more such instances of peremptory arrests of butchers in the coming months. The regulation is heavily loaded against the butcher: the activist just has to point fingers, it is the butcher who has to prove he is innocent. And this could take time. Pretty soon, buffalo meat could go off the shelves too — who wants to entangle with the police? Already restaurants have struck it off their menus and, at the same time, prices of mutton are rising.
It’s too much to expect the government to roll back the ban, but we don’t know how the courts will judge the many petitions lying before them. But it is clear that the lives of many – butchers, dealers, farmers and consumers – have been affected by this misguided decision. Imposing a rule by diktat, without first preparing for a relief programme, is short sighted.
If at all the government is sincere, it must start working for the relief of those affected and most of all to ensure that the thousands of cows that will now be abandoned are looked after. This will require outlays, planning and implementation, but there is no time to waste. If indeed this retrograde decision has to stay, at least let there be some consolation that the pain if different groups is mitigated.
Sidharth Bhatia
