Making it clear that no ban had been imposed on the sale of beef, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said: “People are free to eat food of their choice.”
Reading a report from The Hindu on the Kerala High Court dismissing a public interest writ petition challenging the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Market) Rules, 2017, he told a meeting organised by the Municipal Corporation here that “there is no restriction whatsoever on the sale of cattle by farmers from home or other places.”
Certain restrictions had been imposed on animal markets to protect milch cattle, a national wealth, he explained.
The cow, which is central to the agrarian economy, had been venerated down the ages and should be protected at any cost, he opined.
The High Court’s observation had silenced the Opposition parties, which had launched a “false propaganda with ulterior political motives,” he said.
The Congress was forced to suspend three Youth Congress workers in Kerala following a public outcry over the killing of an ox in public view and distributing its meat.
“I am a non-vegetarian,” Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said, and amidst peals of laughter listed non-vegetarian dishes of his liking like natu kodi pulusu , Nellore chepala pulusu ,’ and dried fish from Karavadi near here.
The BJP, described as a party of vegetarians, was against dictating what people should eat, he said.
