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The caller find of hundreds of cattle carcasses astatine a dumping tract successful Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, rightly triggered an outrage connected societal media. A fewer years ago, a akin incidental involving the wide starvation deaths of cows was reported from Chhattisgarh. The caller Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) authorities successful West Bengal issued a nationalist announcement connected May 13, 2026, laying down stringent conditions for the slaughter of animals nether the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950.
Last week, a two-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld the notice, observing that the conditions mentioned successful the impugned bid were issued successful compliance with the High Court’s bid of August 16, 2018. Consequently, nary cow, bull, bullock oregon adjacent buffalo tin beryllium slaughtered without archetypal obtaining a “certificate of fitness” from authorities officials. Despite each the rhetoric, the notification permitted the slaughter of cows older than 14 years, which justifiably annoyed Hindutva supporters.
Over 20 States successful India person laws prohibiting cattle slaughter. Only Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and Kerala bash not person specified laws. But what is the efficacy of these laws? Have the stringent provisions and enhanced punishments introduced implicit the past 12 years helped sphere cows, oregon could specified laws yet lend to their decline? Whether cattle reverence constitutes an indispensable Hindu signifier and whether specified laws interruption the close to privateness are issues that necessitate a ruthlessly nonsubjective assessment.
Politics, religion and cows
Cow extortion has agelong been a cardinal Hindutva contented and which explains the contents of the Bengal notice. Yet, the Congress excessively has historically benefited from cattle extortion campaigns. Viceroy Lord Lansdowne famously observed that the cattle extortion question had transformed the Indian National Congress from “a foolish debating nine into a existent governmental power”. The cattle and calf were the Congress’s symbols for decades. Whenever the BJP comes to powerfulness successful a State, amending cattle slaughter prohibition laws to marque them much stringent — by enhancing punishments, criminalising possession of beef, and restricting the transport of cattle wrong oregon extracurricular the State — becomes a priority. The Gujarat instrumentality of 2017 adjacent provides for beingness imprisonment, and successful 2025, 3 persons were reportedly sentenced to this utmost punishment, ordinarily reserved for heinous offences specified arsenic murder, violent acts and dacoity. True, cattle reverence among Hindus is past and enjoys near-unanimous acceptance, though scholars specified arsenic D.N. Jha person disputed this assertion citing scriptural material. He pointed to instances successful Dharmashastric traditions wherever Yajnavalkya appears to endorse the depletion of beef, and highlighted the inconsistencies and polymorphic quality of Indian dietary practices. He besides argued that the “holy” presumption accorded to the cattle was mostly a overmuch aboriginal development, and noted that respective prescriptive Hindu texts classified cattle slaughter arsenic a insignificant misdeed (upapataka) alternatively than a large offence (mahapataka). Strikingly, adjacent the salient Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar held views that differed importantly from those of galore present-day Hindutva activists. Consequently, cattle reverence whitethorn not fulfill the parameters of the indispensable spiritual practices trial which requires signifier to beryllium mandatory from the clip of root of a religion.
In Mohd. Hanif Quareshi vs State of Bihar (1958), the Supreme Court of India rightly held that cattle slaughter connected Bakr-Eid is not an indispensable Islamic signifier either. Several Muslim rulers had besides restricted cattle slaughter. Babur advised Humayun to bash truthful successful his will, Jahangir’s Edict No. 10 excessively prohibited carnal slaughter connected definite days retired of respect for Hindu and Jain sentiments. The influential Deoband Islamic seminary excessively issued aggregate fatwas discouraging cattle slaughter. Even successful the Constituent Assembly debates connected November 24, 1948, Muslim members specified arsenic Z.H. Lari and Mohammad Saadullah insisted that “it is amended to travel guardant and incorporated a clause successful cardinal rights that cattle slaughter is henceforth prohibited, alternatively than it being near vague successful the directive principles.…”
What cattle census information reveal
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar yet placed cattle extortion wrong the non-justiciable Directive Principles nether Article 48 of the Constitution, pursuing which respective States enacted laws aft Independence prohibiting cattle slaughter. Yet, cattle census information suggest that the nonsubjective of preserving and expanding the cattle colonisation has not been achieved. West Bengal, for instance, was among the fewer States wherever culling and merchantability of cows and bulls were not wholly prohibited. By accepted logic, its cattle colonisation should truthful person been acold little than that of States specified arsenic Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. However, since 1951, the cattle colonisation successful the state has grown by lone 49.63%, portion the buffalo colonisation has risen by 153.8% and the pistillate buffalo colonisation by 161.9%. The figures talk for themselves: cows look the hazard of decline.
Ironically, the unprotected buffalo colonisation has grown acold much rapidly, particularly successful the alleged cow-belt States. A examination of cattle maturation rates shows that West Bengal, contempt lacking stringent cattle slaughter laws, has performed amended than States with strict prohibitions. Even though antheral cattle are protected successful these States, their colonisation has declined sharply — by 38.3% successful Gujarat, 31.4% successful Maharashtra and 58.27% successful Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, the diminution successful antheral cattle colonisation successful West Bengal was lone 22.8%. The information besides suggest that stringent prohibition laws whitethorn beryllium pushing farmers successful these States towards buffalo rearing, reflected successful the declining cattle-to-buffalo ratio betwixt 2012 and 2019. In West Bengal, by contrast, buffaloes stay insignificant successful fig and their colonisation sharply declined successful 2019. In 1997, the cattle to buffalo ratio was 144:1 but successful 2019 it became 295:10. In Uttar Pradesh, the cattle-to-buffalo ratio fell from 105:100 successful 1997 to 56:100 successful 2019. West Bengal, contempt lacking stringent prohibitions, witnessed a comparatively stronger maturation successful cattle colonisation and, therefore, specified laws volition not support cows.
Cattle populations turn successful a compounded mode because, dissimilar humans, a cattle gives commencement to its archetypal calf astatine astir 3 years and, to stay productive, indispensable calve each 14-16 months. Calves calved during a census play besides mature and statesman reproducing wrong a fewer years. According to maturation forecasting models, if nary cattle were culled oregon slaughtered and each calves survived but for earthy deaths, the cattle colonisation would summation by 2.5 to 3 times wrong 5 years — thing that has ne'er occurred successful immoderate State. Such maturation is economically unsustainable, arsenic farmers cannot enactment specified numbers owed to fodder scarcity.
Undermining the farmer
When farmers are legally allowed to workout their judgement successful culling unproductive cattle, they gain further income to conscionable expenses specified arsenic weddings, children’s acquisition and wellness care. According to simulation models, farmers successful West Bengal earned astir ₹35,000 crore betwixt 2012 and 2019 from the lawful merchantability of cattle for slaughter, isolated from their dairy income. Farmers successful States with strict prohibition laws besides look to person sold cattle for slaughter arsenic is reflected successful declining cattle populations, but apt to person earned acold little due to the fact that of the illegality of specified income and the anticipation of bribery and middlemen. In effect, these laws bash not penalise butchers oregon beef consumers, but farmers themselves. West Bengal appears to person recognised this world with Muslim refusal to acquisition cows for Eid slaughter. In India’s agrosilvopastoral economy, livestock remains a captious constituent of agrarian livelihoods.
In the privateness judgement of K.S. Puttaswamy (2017), Justice J. Chelameswar had observed “I bash not deliberation that anybody would similar to beryllium told by the State arsenic to what they should devour oregon however they should formal oregon whom they should beryllium associated with either successful their personal, societal oregon governmental life.” Justice Chandrachud said that what 1 eats is one’s idiosyncratic matter and it is simply a portion of privateness nether Article 21, i.e., close to beingness and idiosyncratic liberty In presumption of the politicisation of the issue, Muslims successful Bengal prudently refrained from cattle slaughter during Eid. One hopes that this volition beforehand societal harmony and antagonistic communal hatred campaigns. Maulana Arshad Madani, president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (Arshad Madani faction), has besides called for the cattle to beryllium declared the nationalist animal. The archetypal writer of this article, though not a veterinary expert, believes that Muslims crossed India should enactment a cardinal instrumentality banning cattle slaughter and imposing stringent punishment, particularly connected those who merchantability cows for slaughter.
Faizan Mustafa is Vice-Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna, Bihar. Abdul Samad is Former Dean, Mumbai Veterinary College. The views expressed are personal
