Was beef ban thought through?

T he opinion piece in Gulf News by Manil Suri on the beef ban in India was informative and I wish to commend the writer (‘A ban on beef in India is not sensible’, Gulf News, April 21). First and foremost, one has to respect the religious sentiments of any community. As an animal rights activist, I welcome the move on cow slaughter. But as one who believes in the concept of ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’, I wish to narrate the side effects this legislation might create.

India is a country with the highest cattle population in the world. Most of the Indians who rear cattle are farmers: economically poor, middle-class and sometimes downtrodden. These people will retain their cattle as long as they yield returns. Once they become redundant, they sell their cows and bulls for a price to butchers.

If the ban is implemented, there would be no buyers for their cows and, in that case, they would not take care of the cows by feeding and providing for them until their death. In such a scenario, these people will have no choice but to give them to the government to take care of and it will be practically impossible for the Indian government to care for thousands of them. Otherwise, the government would have to provide stipends to the people to care for cattle, or the people will leave them to roam around the city, which will then become a big nuisance.

I am sure the Indian government would have deliberated on all these factors before enacting the legislation, right? If the government can take care of the side effects of cow slaughters and beef bans effectively, then the legislation could become a success. From Mr Kamal Dubai Full name withheld by request

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