With pro-Hindutva outfits in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts of Tamil Nadu resisting transportation of bulls and buffaloes to Kerala through the region against the backdrop of Union government’s controversial slaughter regulation orders, livestock markets across Kerala are facing closure.
The 40-odd livestock markets across the State, including the 400-year-old Vaniyamkulam market in Palakkad, have landed in a crisis. Trucks bound for these markets are getting stopped in the two Tamil Nadu districts by forums such as the Hindu Makkal Katchi and Hanuman Sena. Over 40 trucks carrying livestock were prevented from entering Kerala by these outfits at Kanathukadavu, near Pollachi, on Thursday and Friday nights. Officials at border check-posts at Velamthavalam, Chemmanampathi and Gopalapuram confirm that no animal-laden vehicles had entered Kerala in the last two days.
The price of beef is going up as most slaughterhouses are getting closed. Present operators of the Vaniyamkulam market, established when the Kozhikode Zamorin was ruling the area, have approached district authorities saying they wish to close it down as they could sell only 400 head of locally sourced cattle this week. Before the regulations, the market had a weekly sale of 7,000 head of cattle.
The centuries-old weekly cattle market at Kuzhalmannam witnessed hardly 120 transactions on Saturday with no arrival of stock from outside the State. Cattle markets at Kongad, Kottathara, and Elippara in Palakkad district are also facing similar situation.
“We are purchasing buffaloes and bulls from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh but they can be transported only through Tamil Nadu. Hindutva groups did not let the animals enter Kerala though we had produced sufficient documents. If the situation persists, Kerala will face a severe shortage of cattle even for agriculture,” said E.R. Sukumaran, an operator of the Kuzhalmannam market.
“They claim they are against cow slaughter. But in practice, they are preventing movement of all livestock,” he said, adding that the police in Tamil Nadu were insensitive to their rights. “Over five lakh families are dependent on the livestock trading business in Kerala. The government has to protect the sector,” said a trader at Vaniyamkulam.
The other version
On the other hand, Hindu Makkal Katchi leader Arjun Sampath claimed that cattle transportation to Kerala involved severe violation of animal rights.
“More than 50 animals are being forcibly loaded into trucks and transported without food and water on journeys which go up to four days. We are just highlighting the animal rights issue,” he claimed.
At Erode, trade in cattle meant for culling at the weekly shanties in district has stopped.
According to Animal Husbandry Department sources, since there is no registered association for cattle traders in the district, officials are not sure whether Kerala-based buyers of cattle have kept away.
