THE Modi government marked the completion of its three years in office by launching a vicious attack on the right of choice of food and the livelihood of millions of farmers, cattle traders and butchers. On May 25, an amendment to the rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was notified. As per this notification called Regulation on Livestock Markets Rules, 2017, a ban has been imposed on the sale of cattle for slaughter all across India; cattle is defined as bulls, cows, bullocks, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves and camels.

By this rule, farmers who take cattle to a cattle market for sale for slaughter will be liable for prosecution. By including buffaloes, their slaughter is also being illegalised, which is not against the law in most states.

Through this blanket ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, the Hindutvawadis want to stop a large section of people, particularly minorities and Dalits, from eating beef, which is a cheap source of protein and nutrition.

The farmers will be worst hit by this ban. They will be unable to sell their unproductive cows, buffaloes or bullocks in the market. This will deprive them of the much needed money to buy new animals and will also compel them to abandon their old cattle which will become strays. The beef-export industry worth Rs 26,685 crores will be badly hit, so also, the leather industry.

The slaughter and trade in cattle is a state subject. By smuggling in these rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the central government has encroached on the powers of the state. The chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan has correctly stated that the notification is anti-democratic and anti-federal. The Kerala and West Bengal governments have announced that they will not enforce these rules.

This latest onslaught on food choice of citizens comes in the background of the systematic efforts being made to ban beef including buffalo meat, unleash cow vigilantes on minorities and those engaged in cattle trade. What cannot be done ie, ban on slaughter of cattle legally at the national level, is sought to be done now in a surreptitious manner.

Already the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has given a stay on the concerned two clauses of the rules for a period of four weeks. The Modi government should immediately withdraw the obnoxious parts of the notification.