Cows make up tiny share of cattle smuggled to B’desh
The share of cows in the illegal cattle trade from India to Bangladesh has been an average 12% over the past three years, shows an HT analysis of official data on livestock seized along the international border.
Focus on cow smuggling and consumption of cattle meat has risen since the BJP won power in 2014, but the issue returned to spotlight after the new Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath clamped down on illegal slaughterhouses and cattle smuggling this week.
The BJP’s ideological parent — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — considers cows sacred and has long pushed for a nationwide ban on their slaughter and trade, saying the bovine population was under threat in India.
But official data accessed by HT indicated that the situation was probably far from alarming for cows . Between January 2014 and December 2016, the number of cattle seized varied between 1.5 lakh to 1.75 lakh every year. And the seizure of cows is consistent between 11.7% and 11.9% in all three years, according to data analysed by HT. The period also coincides with the BJP coming to power at the Centre and several key states.
Maximum seizures are of bullock or ox (37.6% - 40.7%) and calves (30.6%- 43.24%). Male calves accounted for 95% in the calf category.
While there is no definite estimate of illegal cross-border cattle trade, unofficial government estimates pegs it at 1.8 million to 2 million animals, according to a senior official from home ministry. He declined to be identified citing the political sensitivity in the matter.
Experts say extrapolation of seized goods is an accepted global practice to make an educated guess — known as guesstimate — and they peg it at nearly 10 times the seizure.
Data collated by HT from auctioning of seized cattle by customs outposts along the Indo-Bangladesh border comes close to unofficial home ministry estimates. In Muslim-majority Bangladesh beef is a staple.
The Border Security Force (BSF), tasked with stopping smuggling of bovines besides guarding the frontier, hands them over to the customs department, which in turn auctions it. The valuation of cattle to be auctioned are classified into broadly five heads — cow, buffalo, bull or ox, calf-male and female.
CONTINUED ON P 6