Cow Slaughter Ban Industry

Uttar Pradesh’s drive against illegal slaughter of buffaloes and goats has led to widespread corruption and confusion.

- Vivan Fernandes

ILLEGALITY THRIVES IN Uttar Pradesh’s drive against illegal slaughter of buffaloes and goats. The action initiated after Yogi Adity-anath took over as Chief Minister on 19 March itself lacks due process. Some police officials and vigilantes owing allegiance to muscular Hindutva outfits like the Bajrang Dal are beating up buffalo suppliers and extorting money with little fear of being punished. By its inaction, the UP administration is doing unconstitutional things legally, like depriving citizens of livelihood, and their choice of food, as the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court observed about the Lakhimpur Kheri municipal corporation which was prevaricating on a goat meat seller’s license renewal application.

There was a torrent of complaints from buffalo suppliers to Frigerio Conserva Allana Private Limited, when this correspondent met them on 15 April. The Aligarh-based company is engaged in slaughter and processing of buffalo meat for export. It belongs to Allanasons, a Mumbai-based trader and exporter of coffee, spices, vegetables, fruit juices and soybean oil, which began operations in 1865. It got into buffalo meat exports in 1969. Last year the group exported 4.5 lakh tonnes, says Ayaz Siddiqui, general manager (operations) at the Aligarh plant. That is a little more than a third of India’s 2015-16 buffalo meat exports of 1.3 million tonnes.

Gola Qureshi, a buffalo supplier from Bareilly, said he was parted with Rs 1,000 on the day this correspondent met him by police at Raya railway crossing near Mathura, while transporting animals from Laxminagar penth (weekly market), despite showing them the bill of purchase. The police were aided by four or five vigilantes on bikes, he said. If he did not pay up, the police threatened to take away his animals, 16 of them, worth about Rs 4 lakh to village folk.

Recovering them would have been very difficult.