IIT Madras students now hold 'Beef Fest' to protest slaughter ban
- 50 IIT students organise beef fest to protest the Centre's new regulation on cattle trade and beef ban.
- Similar protests in Kerala sparked controversy in the political circuit.
- Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan expresses his displeasure at the Centre dictating the food habits of Keralites.
FollowAfter a beef fest organised by the Congress and the Left parties in Kerala, over 50 students from IIT Madras organised the same event on campus on Monday to protest the Centre's ban on cattle slaughter. Protests were held outside the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday where participants cooked beef and distributed it to passersby. Speaking to media, Mohammad Riyaz, the DYFI National President, who led the protest said, "We will eat beef to show our protest against the central government. We want to tell this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
In a similar protest in Kollam district, Congress Youth Workers were suspended for slaughtering a calf in public view. Congress workers were also criticised for cooking beef in front of the DCC office to protest against the Centre's decision. The Kannur police has registered a case against district president Rijil Makulti and other Youth Congress
workers under Section 120(A) of the Kerala Police Act. Meanwhile, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also condemned the act, saying, "What happened in Kerala yesterday is thoughtless, barbaric and completely unacceptable to me and the Congress party. I strongly condemn the incident.”
The state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur: Pinarayi Vijayan
On the contrary, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Centre does not have the right to dictate the food habits of other regions. Speaking at an event in Alappuzha, he said, "the state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur.”
He also said that Keralites have been following a healthy food habit and no one can change it. He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing his views on the new cattle rule. He said that the new rule was an intrusion of the rights granted to states. Calling it a violation of federalism, Vijayan said, "the new rule is against the principle of
secularism as well.”
Tamil Nadu: Around 50 students of IIT Madras participated in a beef fest in the campus to protest the ban on sale of cattle for slaughtering pic.twitter.com/BNnFbJNb1v
— ANI (@ANI_news) May 29, 2017
The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change- Harsh Vardhan ordered that the ministry has notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 to ensure that the sale of cattle is not meant for slaughter purposes. Speaking to the ANI, Vardhan was very clear about the regulation, as he said, "Aim of the rules is very specific. It is only to regulate the animal market and the sale of cattle in these markets, and ensuring of cattle dealt in market. And the rule provides for a strict animal monitoring committee and an animal market at the local level."
He had further added, "an undertaking to this effect has to be given to the member secretary of the animal market committee from the seller as well as the buyer." the rule also binds the buyer from using the cattle for sacrificial purposes. Cattle can also not be sold to a person outside the state without permission and mus abide by the state's cattle
protection laws.
