Technically the BJP may not yet have gone to the extent of banning beef consumption but in effect it has taken the first step towards this end. How else does one explain the move of the BJP led Central Government to ban the sale of cattle to the slaughter house ? A crafty move, one might add, for while technically not saying that beef consumption has been banned, the BJP is in reality saying the same thing in banning the sale of cattle to the slaughter house. Not surprisingly a number of States, including the people of North Eastern States, have strongly spoken out against the move of the Centre. The BJP had earlier laid down that any ban on beef will not cover the North East States, and while it has not banned beef, it has nonetheless banned the sale of cattle to the slaughter house and there should be no difference between the two stands.
While BJP spokesman in Manipur Dr Nimaichand Luwang has not outrightly rejected the move of the Centre, but took care to point out that 40 to 45 percent of the people consume beef and hence protests can be expected, the BJP unit of Mizoram was more forthcoming in asserting that the BJP in Mizoram will not support a ban on cow slaughter in Mizoram territory. Wonder what the official stand of the BJP led Government in Manipur will be and perhaps this will be the first real test of the N Biren Singh Government. Remember Chief Minister N Biren has been making the right noise in reaching out to the hill people and remember too that majority of the beef eaters in Manipur are people from the hills. The interesting question is what is the stand of the BJP Government here on the issue ?
The beef politics. While some may find this term hard to digest, it nonetheless stands that the decision to ban the sale of cattle to slaughter houses and hence a ban on beef consumption, could not have been taken without an eye on the election prospect. This is what is hard to digest. The divide and rule game plan cannot be missed. Divide the people on the line of their dietary habit and hope to cash on it through the Electronic Voting Machine.
Moreover does this move go along with the spirit of the Constitution of the country, is a question the BJP should ask itself. Reeks of a Hindutva agenda and this is where the BJP seems to have lost the vision on where to place its priorities. As Google CEO Sundar Pitchai so eloquently put it, ‘India must concentrate on people’s welfare not on their food habits.
Eating beef or any food is purely personal freedom. No one has the right to ban it.’ This is what is expected from the BJP led Government. There are other more pressing issues and banning beef or the sale of cattle to the slaughter house does not exactly go along with the idea of attracting more foreign investment. It also does not fit in with the Act East Policy which has been tom tommed so frequently by the Prime Minister himself.
Source: The Sangai Express
