Muslims should give up beef, says Ajmer Sharif head
The Spiritual head of the Ajmer Sharif dargah on Monday called upon Muslims to give up beef eating and said triple talaq is against Sharia.
The dargah is considered to be among the holiest Muslim shrines in India.
“On the occasion of the 805th Urs (death anniversary) of Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti, who all through his life strived for peaceful coexistence of Hindus and Muslims, we (Muslims) should give up eating beef to honour the religious sentiments of our Hindu brethren,” said Zainul Abedin Khan, the diwan of the shrine.
He also took a vow on the occasion not to eat beef.
“My family and I have taken a pledge on this day that we will never have beef for the rest of our lives,” he said, in a statement.
Khan is the direct descendant in the 22nd generation of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, the Sufi saint.
His appeal comes amid a raging controversy over cow slaughter with many states coming up with stringent laws to prevent killing of cows and eating its meat.
Khan supported the Gujarat government’s recent legislation announcing a life sentence for those found guilty of killing cows. The Gujarat assembly had last week passed a bill enhancing the punishment for cow slaughter from seven years to life imprisonment.
“This (Gujarat legislation) would be a great deterrent for those involved in killing cows for meat and other products”, he said.
He also called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the cow as the national animal.
The diwan went on to condemn the practice of triple talaq, saying the Quran and Sharia do not permit it.
“As it is inhuman, anti-islamic and against the gender equality, it should be shunned without any further delay”, he said.
Triple talaq, as it is commonly called, is a controversial Islamic practice where a man divorces a woman by saying the word talaq, the Arabic word for divorce, three times.
The Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre is advocating for a ban on the practice, though many Muslim organisations are against such move.
“Why some people in the community are reluctant to give up the practice which Quran and Prophet Mohammed never approved, is beyond the comprehension of a reasonable section of Muslim”, he said.
“Time has come to eschew the practice that victimises our sisters and daughters”, Khan added.
The SC will start hearing pleas against triple talaq from May 11.
UTTAR PRADESH
The state where the Yogi Adityanath government launched a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses is the main source of buffalo hide. In Kanpur’s Penchbagh alone, for instance, around 40,000 people are employed in 600 leather industries. While half of these units closed down in the aftermath of demonetisation, 100 others had to down shutters after the ban. In Agra too, the tourism and footwear industry is going through hard times.
MAHARASHTRA
The famous handcrafted footwear made in Kolhapur town will bear the brunt of the ban. The chappal industries in Kolhapur employ over 6,000 people.
Kolhapur has seen large-scale unemployment since 2015 with the ban on slaughter of cow, bull, bullock and buffalo.
From 6,000 workers in 2015, only 500 workers remain now.
WEST BENGAL
Various allied sectors are vital to the running of local economy in West Bengal, one of the few states where cow slaughter is allowed along with that of ox and buffalo.
Hide processors, leather industry, footwear industry, restaurants thrive on the business.
Apart from workers of leather goods, the unorganised sector has over 10 lakh labourers.
PUNJAB
The leather industry in Jalandhar is widely dependent on buffalo hides. Traders expect rates to go up by around 30%. Over 10,000 employees at 60 tanneries are expected to be affected.
Besides, around 70 sports goods units will be directly or indirectly affected.
Volleyball, soft leather items in cricket and baseball are all made of leather.
Bringing back memo ries of the February 2012 Park Street rape, a 30-year-old woman was allegedly molested and beaten up inside a posh night club by a group of drunk men in Park Street. The women’s hus band was also roughed up by the attackers.
The accused men reportedly assaulted the couple because they ventured into a reserved area.
A complaint was registered at Shakespeare Sarani police sta tion following which an FIR was lodged. No arrests have been made so far.
“The men were drunk. They shouted at us for stepping in some reserved area. They then assaulted me and touched me inappropriately. They molested me,” said the victim speaking to journalists.
“No one came forward to save me. They just stood there and watched. Ultimately the bounc ers and some officials of the night club came to our rescue,” the vic tim added.
“We are trying to identify the accused. We have got the CCTV footage. We have slapped IPC sections 354, 354 A, 323,341 and 34 of IPC relating to assault or crim inal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, unwel come comment or sexual over tones, voluntarily causing hurt and others,” said a senior police officer.
The couple who are residents of Alipore, visited the night club on Park street at around 1 am on Saturday.
“The man molested me in front of others and tried to push me down to the floor. After I fell he continued hitting me over and over again. Three others - whom I could not identity - joined in My husband tried to come for ward to save me. He was hit and one of the men tried to throttle him using the gold chain he was wearing...” the victim said.
The club’s bouncers and the owner rushed to the couple’s res cue, she said. She claimed that she was receiving calls urging her to withdraw the case.
It was on February 6, an Anglo Indian women was picked up from a nightclub on the pretext of a lift home. Then she was raped in a moving car and later thrown out.