Not only is the notification issued under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA) on the buying and selling of cattle in animal markets unconstitutional, its timing is also an attempt to target a people preparing for their month-long fasting and the feasts which follow (“All animals are equal,” editorial, May 29). In fact, with the spate of lynchings and violent attacks by goons in many parts of the country on the pretext of protecting the cow, any decent government and polity would have shown some seriousness towards bringing in an anti-lynching law. It is a shocking coincidence that both the U.S. — which claims itself to be the oldest democracy — and India — the biggest democracy — have at varying points seen incidents of targeted lynchings. India urgently needs to learn from the gory and shameful history of the U.S. in this matter, enact a stringent anti-lynching law and strengthen the secular, enlightenment values of its education system and the administration itself. A polity built on the foundation of non-violence and constitutional ethos cannot tolerate violence on the part of its people.
Firoz Ahmad,
Delhi
The idea of mitigating the suffering of animals that are to be slaughtered is a laudable one. However, the government’s notification issued as part of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA) looks to be targeted at preventing the sale and slaughter of only certain animals. The government should instead have formulated rules to prevent the torture of animals as well as birds while being transported to places of slaughter. For more humane methods of slaughter, it should construct scientific slaughterhouses with a facility to stun the animals before killing them.
Farmers shouldn’t be burdened with the task of maintaining unproductive animals. There should be a mechanism to procure such animals from farmers, check their utility and, as a last resort, send them to slaughter.
J. Salai Gunalan,
Nagapattinam
The Centre’s notification on cattle slaughter is more than just a deliberate attempt to encroach upon States’ powers. It is an attempt to encroach on our rights related to food and eating habits. Poor people often get their food supplement from red meat, which is available at a moderate price. With the banning of cattle slaughter, many more people are likely to suffer from malnutrition. The cow slaughter ban and beef consumption ban will provoke a situation similar to that created in Bihar after the liquor ban, leading to more black marketing.
Mahatma Gandhi had once been asked if he supported a ban on cow slaughter. He responded by telling that it would “mean coercion against those Indians who are not Hindus”. Cow slaughter ban and beef ban will be counterproductive to our nation in two ways — it will polarise the country and it would provide opportunity to some unscrupulous traders to engage in black marketing. In both cases, the ordinary people would be the worst sufferers.
K.A. Solaman,
Alappuzha
I welcome the opposition expressed by the Chief Ministers of Kerala and West Bengal with regard to the Centre’s notification. I see the present directive as an audacious assault on an individual’s freedom to choose his food and practise his religious beliefs. Why is the government choosy about only certain animals? It’s better that the government withdraws this directive on its own rather than wait for courts to strike it down.
T. Anand Raj,
Chennai
