Public bull slaughter: 3 Youth Congress leaders suspended

Rahul had condemned the Kannur incident on Twitter

Three Youth Congress leaders, who led the protest on Saturday in which a bull was slaughtered in public, have been placed under suspension by the party.

They were protesting the Central government’s notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter at livestock markets and fairs.

The suspended leaders are Riji Makutty, Joshi Kandathil and Sharafuddin Katampally.

The trio was suspended by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee leadership on Monday.

The suspension followed the direction of the Congress leadership at the Centre as the incident was condemned by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and others, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

‘Thoughtless, barbaric’

“The KPCC has suspended the three YC functionaries from the party on a direction from the Congress’s Central leadership,” said District Congress Committee president Satheeshan Pacheni.

The YC was also expected to take its own organisational action, he said. The action against the YC leaders was a foregone conclusion in the aftermath of Mr. Gandhi's condemnation of the incident. In a post on his Twitter handle, Mr. Gandhi had termed the slaughter “thoughtless and barbaric” and “unacceptable.”

The YC workers had the bull publicly slaughtered in a residential area. The Kannur City police registered a case against Mr. Makutty and others under the Kerala Police The incident kicked up a row when BJP State president Kummanam Rajashekharan posted a video of the slaughter on his Twitter account, saying that it was “cruelty at its peak.”