FINDING itself caught on the wrong foot,
the BJP-Shiv Sena government in
Maharashtra reversed its decision to
amend the Maharashtra Animal
Preservation Act, 1976, calling for a total
ban on the slaughter of bullocks. On
August 2, it withdrew the Maharashtra
Animal Preservation (amendment) Bill,
1995, following waves of protests.
Heading the opposition was the
Bombay Pradesh Qaumi Tanzeem, a
Congress - sp on sored outfit. Shamim
Qureshi, president of Qaumi Tanzeem,
alleged that the decision was politically
motivated. The bill did not care about the
plight of the people in the lower income
group, for whom beef is the cheapest and
most nutritious food, he added. The cost
of feeding the animals, once they had
outlived their utility, would be difficult
to sustain for the average farmer. The
ban will thus reduce the value of the bullock, which is traditionally regarded as the farmer's capital, to zero.
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