Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: Beef was cooked on the roadside and consumed in Kerala on Saturday in protest against the Centre’s ban on sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets, a move which also came under attack in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention for repealing the measure. He said the Centre’s decision amounts to an “intrusion” to the rights of the states in the country’s federal structure.
The ban, was, however, welcomed by animal protection bodies and organisations running cow shelters. Union Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Maneka Gandhi, an animal rights activist, also strongly supported the ban. But Vijayan and his Puducherry counterpart V Narayanasamy said the government has no right to impose restrictions on the food habits of people.
The Centre’s decision is “autocratic” and a “clear case of infringement” on the rights of people relating to food habits,” Narayanasamy said.
In his two-page letter to Modi, Vijayan said the new rules should have been introduced in consultation with the states. The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such a drastic move with far-reaching consequences is detrimental to our democracy, he said, and demanded that the rules be repealed. Activists of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, opposition Congress-headed UDF and their youth wings took out marches and organised beef fests across Kerala, where beef is widely consumed. Demonstrations were held outside the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram where the protestors cooked and distributed beef on the roadside.
“We will eat beef to show our protest against the central government. We want to tell this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” DYFI national president Mohammed Riyaz, who led the protest, said. In Kollam district, a group of Congress workers cooked beef in front of the DCC office to register its opposition to the Centre’s decision. District unit chief of Congress, Bindu Krishna told reporters that “beef delicacy will be packed and sent to head post office for delivery to Modi ji.”
In Kochi, Tourism and Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran participated in a ‘beef fest’, where bread and beef curry was served, even as Youth Congress activists took out a protest march in the city.
In Thodupuzha in Idukki district, protesters took out a march with the head of a buffalo. Reacting to the Centre’s decision, senior Congress leader and former Union minister A K Antony said the notification should be “torn to bits” and “dumped in a dust-bin”. The Congress-led UDF will observe ‘black day’ on Monday against the ban, opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said in Thrissur. Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu condemned the move and demanded that the Centre withdraw the notification.
DMK working president M K Stalin urged the Centre to withdraw the ban to protect the country’s pluralism.
The Centre should not curtail the freedom of choice in respect of food, Stalin said. PMK chief S Ramadoss also slammed the ban.
West Bengal government criticised the Centre and said it cannot take such unilateral decisions. “The Centre has not discussed the matter with us. Everybody knows our stand on this,” Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said. (PTI)
