The Karnataka BJP Government under the leadership of BS Ydiyurappa passed a anit-cow slaughter bill titled, ‘The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2020’. It was passed by the Legislative Council on Monday following a voice vote.

Notably, the Congress and the JDS pandering to Islamist jihadis and Christian fundamentalists who insist on slaughtering cows and consuming them as food in a country and culture which has revered cows as a living Deity for thousands of years, vociferously protested against the Bill and several of their legislators even torecopies of the Bill in the Council.

When the Deputy Chairman of the House, M K Pranesh called for a vote on the Bill, unruly Congress and JDS legislators swarmed the well of the House and shouted slogans against the government and the Bill. Islamist jihadi Congress MLCs Naseer Ahmed, M Narayanaswamy and R B Thimmapur were among those who tore copies of the Bill as they favoured running businesses based on slaughtering cow. Meanwhile BJP MLCs countered the opposition’s rowdyism by chanting, “Goumata Ki Jai”.

This Bill has introduced an important legal protection for “good samaritans” who out of love for environment, animal welfare, who try to aid the law enforcement agencies by providing information and are concerned about the cruelties the bovines are subjected to by people who trade in cattle for slaughtering purposes.

This would help in protecting many Gau Rakshaks and animal welfare activists who are murdered brutally in broad daylight in Karnataka by Islamist Jihadis and the PFI as we saw in cases of Prashanth Poojari’s murder case, brutal attack on activist Kavita Jain etc reported in the media earlier. No wonder this provision of the Bill did not go well with the Congress and JDS who have close connections with the jihadi Islamist PFI.

Under the new law, only male or female buffalo above the age of 13 can be slaughtered. However, cow, calf of a cow, bull, bullock are prohibited from slaughter. This law would ensure that beef meat will be unavailable in the state and only buffalo meat from buffaloes above 13 years of age can be sold.

It has also has provisions for penalties for violations range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh per animal and three to seven years’ imprisonment. It also gives the police power to search and seize if it has reason to believe that cattle is being sold, purchased or disposed of for the purpose of slaughter.

The previous Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964 had banned the slaughter of cows and calf of she-buffalo. However, the older law had permitted bull, bullock, buffalo (male or female) to be slaughtered if the animal was above 12 years of age, or if it was incapacitated for breeding, draught or giving milk due to injury, deformity or any other cause.

The BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government had earlier passed the bill in the Legislative Assembly but failed to introduce the bill in the Legislative Council. The government had then took an Ordinance route which was promulgated by the Governor Vajubhai Vala. With the Bill now on Monday passed in the Legislative Council it becomes a full fledged Act of the Karnataka legislature.

This step is a very welcome move and lauded by many devout Hindus, environmentalists and animal welfare activists. It is hoped by the author that in future the central government through a series of engagement with the stakeholders and public discourses bans production of beef completely, including buffalo meat as there are several scientific studies giving evidence of high levels of carbon footprints generated in production of beef causing immense damage to the environment, beef production also consumes gallons of water, depleting the highly precious resource as it is amply brought out by a study by Brahma Chellany in his article, “A Healthy Climate-Friendly Diet”.

 

News Source: Karnataka anti-cattle slaughter bill passed in Legislative Council | The News Minute, Image sourced from Times Now

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.