Good news for Mumbai meat lovers: Beef traders end self-imposed ban on buffalo slaughter

Representational image. Reuters[/caption]The beef traders had gone on an indefinite strike early in March and had boycotted the slaughter of buffaloes, which is permitted under law, according to The Hindu.Slaughterhouses across Maharashtra, including the Deonar Abattoir (the largest slaughterhouse in Asia), had been severely hit due to this strike.However, the traders' associations decided to lift the ban on slaughter of buffaloes because of unemployment faced by beef merchants and daily wagers due to the ban, according to The Times of India.“We have told beef merchants to bring buffaloes to the abattoir from April 1. The sale of buffalo meat will provide a partial relief to the almost starving families of many beef merchants, though the agitation against the beef ban will continue," TOI quoted Mumbai Beed Dealers' Welfare Association president Mohammed Qureishi as saying.The protest by the beef traders' associations took place after the bill banning cow slaughter in Maharashtra, pending for several years, received the President's assent on 2 March.The beef ban had taken almost twenty years to materialize and was initiated during the previous Sena-BJP government. The bill was first submitted to the President for approval on 30 January, 1996. However, subsequent governments at the Centre, including the BJP led NDA stalled it and did not seek the President’s consent.The ban created uproar in the country and led to protests against the government on this issue. Two individuals - both Hindus - had even approached the Bombay High Court challenging the beef ban, saying it infringed on their cultural right as a minority of beef eating Hindus."We are Hindus who are consumers of beef, which is now part of our diet and nutrition sources. The ban on beef and criminalising its sale and possession violates fundamental rights of citizens," the duo had said in their petition.(With agency inputs)