Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The Assam Assembly on Friday passed the “Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021” but the members of the opposition parties staged a walkout before voting.
The members from the BJP shouted “Jai Sri Ram” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans in the Assembly after the bill was passed.
The bill will replace the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950 which allows the slaughter of cattle, which are aged above 14 years, with approval from vets.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the new law was aimed at regulating the sale and purchase of beef in places other than the ones permitted by competent authorities.
He made various references to the Constitution, Constituent Assembly, and Mahatma Gandhi to justify the protection of cows. The opposition parties sought certain amendments and also insisted the bill be sent to the Select Committee of the Assembly but the government agreed only to remove buffalo from the bill’s purview.
Congress MLA Siddeque Ahmed said people rearing cattle would suffer losses. He warned that there could be communal tension as possible fallout of the bill.
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“We know how cow protection groups in the country tortured people. I fear this bill might foment communal trouble,” he said.
The CM said there was a right to food and the state government was neither banning the slaughter of cows nor consumption of beef. He said the government wanted to ensure that cows were not slaughtered within a radius of 5 km of any temple. He said this would go a long way in promoting communal harmony. He said the beef was the reason behind many incidents of communal violence in the state.
“Gandhiji wrote in Young India that cow protection is the gift of Hinduism to the world. Hinduism will live for so long as there are Hindus that protect cows. Hindus will be judged not by tilok, the correct chanting of mantras, their pilgrimage, or by their observation of caste rules but by their ability to protect the cow,” Sarma said.
He also spoke about the conflict between directive principles of state policies and fundamental rights.
“The biggest chapter of our Constitution is called the directive principles of state policies. In our Constitution, the fundamental rights do not prescribe how the country should be run. They don’t speak about the country’s philosophy, values, and ideals. They speak about our individual rights,” Sarma said.
He said several cases were filed in the Supreme Court pertaining to a conflict between directive principles of state policies and fundamental rights. He said the apex court had said, “Whenever there will be a conflict between directive principles of state policies and fundamental rights of individuals, the directive principles will prevail.”
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He said under the directive principles of state policies, the Constitution said, “…The state shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of cows, calves, and other cattle.”
The CM said the cows today were not sold but they were stolen day and night. He highlighted the role of the bovine species in the growth of Indian civilization vis-à-vis the agriculture sector.
“How can you juxtapose animal husbandry with cow slaughter? The more cattle are slaughtered, it will prove how ungrateful we are. We cannot kill the cows just because power tillers and tractors are solving the problem of cultivation,” he said.
“There is no bad intention behind bringing this law. We only said don’t eat it (beef) where Hindus and other non-beef-eating communities live. This will promote communal harmony,” Sarma said.
The new law seeks to regulate the sale of beef and the transportation of cattle. The trade will be prohibited in areas that have a large population of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and other non-beef-eating communities or within a radius of 5 km of any temple or other such institutions.
“…No person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported any cattle without valid permit from any place of other state through Assam to any place outside the state of Assam, any place within the state of Assam to any place outside the state of Assam where slaughter of cattle is not regulated by law…
“No person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported any cattle from any place of other state to any place within the state, slaughter whereof is punishable under this Act. No person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported any cattle from any place within the state to any other place within the state, slaughter whereof is punishable under this Act,” the bill says.
It adds that competent authority may issue permit for transport of cattle for agricultural or animal husbandry purposes. Earlier, BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had brought in a similar law to protect cows.
