The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Madhya Pradesh government's efforts to ban cow slaughter and conserve the “cow progeny” have received a shot in the arm following Presidential assent to the long-pending Madhya Pradesh Gau-Vansh Vadh Pratishedh (Sanshodhan) Vidheyak (Madhya Pradesh prohibition of slaughter of cow-progeny (amendment) Bill).
The amended Act puts the responsibility of proving the prosecution wrong on the accused in a cow slaughter case. A person found guilty of cow slaughter would be liable for 7 years imprisonment, instead of the present 3 years, besides a minimum fine of Rs. 5,000.
The government had passed the amendment Bill in the Assembly in 2010 to “strengthen” the existing cow slaughter prohibition Act (Madhya Pradesh Gauvansh Pratishedh Adhiniyam 2004) and forwarded it to the Union Home Ministry on September 3, 2010.
It received the Presidential assent on December 22, 2011 and was published in the Madhya Pradesh gazette (extraordinary) on December 31, 2011. The Act will soon come into force through an official notification.
The amended Act provides that no person “shall slaughter” or “cause to slaughter” or “offer for slaughter” any cow progeny by any means.
Besides, no person, including a transporter, shall transport or offer to transport or cause to be transported any cow progeny, either by himself or through an agent, servant or any other person acting on his behalf, within the State or outside it, with the knowledge that the calf would be or was likely to be slaughtered. The Act provides that any police officer not below the rank of head constable or anyone authorised by a competent authority shall have the power of entry, inspection, search and seizure and to present the case in the court.
Keywords: cow slaughter ban
This is unnecessary piece of legislation which is against the core secular values of this country. Govt has no authority to decide what people should eat. They can only pass legislation on how animals are slaughtered and the meats are preserved. For the people making comments supporting this law, they should answer if they are willing to stop eating anything if it offends the sentiments of some sect or religion.
I think it's a ridiculous piece of legislation, guaranteed to be misused especially since the burden of proof in any accusation will be on the accused, guilty till proven innocent. Also, secularism means not favouring one particular religion over another. This piece of legislation does exactly the opposite. We are a secular nation, not a hindu nation. There are a lot of things that offend me, I find looking the other way to be a very useful tool in handling such situations.
The biggest problem for indian modern people is that the dont understand the meaning of the term "SECULAR" country.Secular exactly means a country which allows all the religions to be flourished without hurting sentiments of each other.On the name of secularism people supporting cow slaughter that it is allowed for other religion than hindu religion.But you should note that for example christian religion lord jesus christ says as one of the most important commandment of bible as"THOU SHALL NOT KILL" and he himself never ate meat or any such thing. So not only hindu but all religion can be in harmony with each other if they understand their religion properly. It is good step by goverment on this path i fully support it.
People are ready to avoid going to middle east as they would be deprived of pork.This just shows that we in India have brought ourselves to a stage where everyone does whatever he/she pleases. While individual likes (and dislikes) are important, the general mood of the society too must be given some worth too.
To all commenters who seem to think that in order for the state to respect religions it has to pander to the whims and fancies of it's adherents, I say that you've misunderstood secularism. What our constitution says is that it will not hold any religion as a favorite. In fact, it will leave religion as a personal matter of its citizens and will not stick its nose into religious matters. And freedom to practice religion also includes freedom FROM the tyranny of religion. Therefore I think that these steps are entirely retrograde. Jains believe that eating any living thing is wrong and it hurts their sentiments when people eat any non-vegetarian food. Do we ban those too? Should we ban garlic and potatoes because there are sects whose sentiments might be hurt by that? This is ridiculous. As long as the conscientious objectors are not being force-fed any beef, they should just stay out of other people's personal choices. The government's move is just pandering to a vote bank. Shameful!
Instead of making a moderate society we are choosing a radical path. There's no end to this, today its the holy cow, tomorrow its the demand to ban pigs and so on. It should be left to the judgement of people on what one can eat or not. We are accepting anything in the name of not hurting religious sentiments.
I am a Hindu and my sentiments are not hurt if some poor fellow is eating beef or for that matter someone else who likes it. If you have a belief/faith just keep it to yourself don't force it on others. Everything is politics and nothing to do with the welfare of the people.
great decision by the president. It should be implemented in Karnataka and India as a whole. Cows are like mothers to Hindus. and it hurts us when someone slaughters our motherly cows. Secularism is not meant as hurting Hindus by killing cows.
Awesome news.People who are dieing to eat Non-Veg are requested atleast to leave Cow. Respect other religions also and you will be respected.
Many working class communities and several Hindu castes apart from Dalits and Muslims are beef eaters. It is the poor people who will suffer due to this law, as the whole beef industry is sought to be destroyed. Beef is cheaper than meat and poultry and hence preferred in many places. This law is anti-people as it is aimed against these people. No government can dictate what people should or should not eat. Food habits cannot be monocultured. This is completely undemocratic and unconstitutional and needs to be protested strongly.
Two points of note. Eating beef (in fact, all meat AND fish) under the Hindu dharma is not allowed. So as a Hindu dharma based party making a stance is fine. However, there has to be exemptions, other religions or humanitarian. Second, these kinds of rules are more required for impoverished states than those that aren't. Our country has been built on morals centuries ago to the envy of all the civilizations at the time. We are where we are, but we have to do what is right for us and not take either the Americas or Arab countries as example!!
Good decision but the MP Govt. should also take responsibility of providing shelter to old and neglected cows. As for beef eaters, why don't you guys give vegetables a shot eh!?
The supreme indifference to the choice of people in food by the so called Hindus, shows that "Secular India" is an oxymoron. By telling people what to eat and what not to, the very maturity and freedom of people in India is questioned. I could not imagine to what lengths parties go to gain votes. All I could say to the people who hail this act is that they are, too narrow minded and indifferent, this attitude will not take us forward but will drag us back to the middle ages. Well if the so called Hinds are concerned about a Cow's health , then they should stop using milk too, because, milking-cows in farms have a very short life expectancy as compared to a free grazing cow (if there is one).This act only shows how base and selfish we people in India could be.
Most of the milk drunk in India is the buffalo milk and most of the beef eaten is what comes from the buffalo again. And yet, 'Gai humari mata hai'. A clear discrimination based on colour.
The title is a little misleading in my opinion. I gather from the comments that cow slaughter had already been in place and what has been signed by the President is only an amendment to the law in order to strengthen it.
The decision makes sense. Cow is worshiped by many in India and it hurt their sentiments when the cow is slaughtered. Those who want to eat non-veg food have alternatives. I think that beliefs of religions should be given priority over personal food preference. Pork should also be banned. Such moves will ease relations between people of different religions.
I am Hindu and I love eating beef. What about my right to eat what I want? I live in India under the assumption this is a secular nation not some Hindu state. A Hindu nation is as undesirable to me as an Islamic one. I like Pork too which is why I would not move to the middle east.
Eating beef is individual choice. Government cannot dictate what people eat. Like prohibition on liquor that is in force in some states such as Gujarat, the cow slaughter is sure to go underground. Besides, MP is the most under nourished state in India. And cows are there everywhere. It makes no sense to put ban. Then who will draw the fine line whether a cow died of natural cause or killed? This law is guaranteed to be misused, like blasphemy law in islamic countries.
Just as all middle eastern countries ban pig slaughter and even raising pigs in farms India has every right to respect and fulfill a long standing demand of its citizens by banning cow slaughter.
Two things: 1. The bill was sent to the centre for the President's approval in Sept 2010 and was approved in December 2011 after 15 months. Why do these things take so long? It is not because the president and his advisers are so busy. It is because there is no political will to take prompt decisions and actions. 2. The bill was passed by the state legislature. Why did it need the president's approval rather the state governor's? Am I mistaken?
Every single state in India should ban cow slaughter. Secularism and respect for other religions does not mean that Hindu values can be ignored or suppressed anymore. Besides indigenous cows are more suitable to local weather and water conditions and more resistant to diseases. Self reliance on milk and diary production is key to the strength of the economy, and therefore desi breeds need to be promoted.
So does this mean, if I want to eat beef, I have to leave the borders of MP? Does this law have some sort of an exemption for Muslims and Christians?
I have one doubt. Who will take care of those old cows? Poor farmers won't be ready to feed the cows when they don't get any profit from it. The result is they will kick all those cows to streets creating problems to public. If government is so concerned about gov raksha, let them build some rehabilitation center for old cows.
Please Email the Editor