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Beef Ban Pinches India Muslim Farmers
8-12-2015
Enduring a ban on beef meet for decades, a fresh ban on slaughtering bulls and bullocks has been the last straw that led many farmers to bankruptcy, failing to survive under the severe ban.
"The bull would have been swiftly sold four months ago," farmer Gopal Dolse, who has been standing for long hours at the open-air marketplace in Rajur, a village in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, told Los Angeles Times.
"The beef ban has ruined everything."
The weekly market has been used for decades by vendors wishing to sell their cattle.
Though the slaughter of cows has been forbidden in Maharashtra for four decades, a new state government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party extended the prohibition to bulls and bullocks.
The move dramatically reduced demand for cattle, worsening the plight of small farmers in the predominantly agricultural region.
Taking more than 10 miles to the market with his bull, Dolse said he would have sold it easily in the past for 35,000 rupees, or about $550.
Now, he is ready to see it for less than half that, but there is no takers.
"A bull or cow needs more attention than a newborn," says Dolse, who has 10 cattle on a 5-acre farm where he grows cotton, sorghum and soybeans. He spends more than $100 a month on food and water for the animals.
Fayaz Godri, another cattle broker, piled 14 animals into two trucks to bring them to the Rajur market at a cost of 10,000 rupees, or about $155. By the afternoon, he hadn't sold any.
"My 10,000 rupees go down the drain along with all the effort," he said.
Falling Industry
Across the state of 112 million people, activists say an estimated 1 million employed in the cattle industry have suffered because of the law.
"Dull would be a lenient way of describing the business," Mohammad Ziauddin, who sells cattle hides, said, noting that his income has dwindled by 75% in the last four months.
Keeping his butchers on the payroll despite, their having little work, he added, "They have been with me for years. I cannot discard them.
"But I too have a family. Once it gets unsustainable, I will have to fire them with a heavy heart."
Practicing their profession for years, many butchers were left with no other job prospects.
Along with beef meet, a once robust leather industry has also come to a standstill.
"The government should comprehend the repercussions before passing a law," says Ranade, the activist.
"There is no plan to provide alternatives to those losing their jobs."
Standing in the market from 7 am to 4 pm, Dolse gives up and decides to return home.
"I left home at 4 in the morning and it's going be another three-hour-walk back to my village," he says, his eyes showing his fatigue.
"I had hoped it would be without the bull."
The laws governing cow slaughter differ from state to state in India.
Most of the BJP-ruled states have stricter laws against cow slaughter. Some states allow the slaughter of cattle with restrictions, while many others totally prohibit it.
Central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in 2012 had framed strict anti-cow slaughter law.
The law provides for up to seven years in jail and a minimum fine of Rs 5000 (US$83) for killing a cow. Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
At present, there is no ban on cow slaughter in few states like Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Lakshadweep.
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