Meat ban: Qureshi Samiti to meet Yogi
GORAKHPUR: A delegation of Al-Qureshi Kalyan Samiti will meet chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi on Sunday to demand revocation of state government’s order on the closure of slaughterhouses.
Members of the Qureshi community (meat cutters) will also organise a massive demonstration before the Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on March 27 if their demand is not met.
President of Qureshi Kalyan Saimiti Fawad Ali said, “We will hand over a memorandum to chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi. If talks with the CM fail, we will stage a protest.”
“Closure of slaughterhouses has affected the community. We are jobless and our families are starving. There are 25,000 Qureshi community families in Gorakhpur, Aditya Nath is our representative and he should look into our grievances,” Ali said.
Members of Qureshi community have applied for licence in Gorakhpur Nagar Nigam (GNN) office but they are running from pillar to post to get it. “The officers asked us to contact the food cell but they turned us back. We will urge the CM to direct the GNN officers to grant us licence to run slaughterhouses,” said Fawad Ali. Mohammad Islam, another member of the community, said: “We will urge Aditya Nath to provide alternative employment or government job to one member of each Qureshi family if the government is adamant on the closure of slaughterhouses. We are ready to follow the decision but the government should rehabilitate us.”
Terming the action onesided, Mohammad Irfan Ali said no action had been taken against those who were involved in the slaughter of pigs, goat and chicken. “Closure of slaughterhouses is a conspiracy against the Qureshi community,” he alleged.
The Samiti had filed a petition in the Allahabad high court in 2002 after the closure of a slaughterhouse in Humayunpur locality. The high court, in its order, had directed the district administration to provide an alternative slaughterhouse which was later set up in Bhathat on the outskirts of Gorakhpur.
The then district magistrate permitted the Qureshi community to slaughter buffaloes in their respective houses or temporary slaughter houses located in their localities. “After the BJP government ordered closure of slaughterhouses, the GNN raided the houses of Qureshis and imposed a ban on the slaughter of buffaloes,” Ali said.
District unit BJP leader Dharmendra Singh said the chief minister will meet the representatives of various communities and organisations.