MEAT SELLERS’ STRIKE MAY END
The ongoing strike by meat sellers in Uttar Pradesh is expected to be called off soon.
LUCKNOW: UP’s lip-smacking nonvegetarian fare — from Lucknow’s kebabs to Moradabadi biryani — is set to be back on your plate as the ongoing strike by meat sellers and prominent nonvegetarian eateries is expected to be called off soon.
The move followed UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s assurance to meat sellers and exporters that the government would protect all genuine operators. The CM, who is on a nineday fast, also said officers who had gone overboard, after the government ordered a clampdown on illegal slaughter houses, would be asked to act “responsibly”. Closure of all mechanised and illegal slaughter houses was part of BJP’s election promise.
Sirajuddin Qureshi, president of All India Jamiatul Quresh — a body to whom majority slaughter houses and influential meat sellers are affiliated, said the association has appealed to slaughterhouse owners in the state to consider calling the strike off. “I guess things would start normalising in a couple of days,” he said.
Interestingly, while the iconic Tundey Kebabi shop in the old city remained closed, its Nazirabad outlet managed by the grandson of Tundey Kebabi opened though instead of its popular buffalo meat kebabs it was selling chicken kebabs.
Many of whom claimed they were forced to shut down due to technicalities. The prominent non-vegetarian eateries and meat sellers had closed down bringing the ₹15,000-crore slaughter house industry in UP that employs 25 lakh people to a grinding halt.
Few meat sellers told HT that they were in favor of re-opening only after government renewed licenses and granted approvals that had been pending for months. However, majority of the meat sellers described their meeting with the CM who is on a nineday fast due to Navratra as a “positive one” opening up the possibility of meat shops becoming fully functional after Navratra.