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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Anti-slaughterhouse drive in Yogi Adityanath's UP based on half-truths, rumours -Niha Masih

Anti-slaughterhouse drive in Yogi Adityanath's UP based on half-truths, rumours -Niha Masih

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published Published on Apr 2, 2017   modified Modified on Apr 2, 2017
-Hindustan Times

Aligarh: “She is a very Iron lady,” says Krishna, a municipal stenographer as I wait to meet the mayor of Aligarh, the BJP’s Shakuntala Bharti on a sultry afternoon.

After over an hour, clad in a bright red sari with a thick golden border, vermillion streak on forehead and sindoor all the way back in her hair, Bharti, 51, walks in with a small black pug called Blackie.

Amongst the first things she brings up is her crusade against illegal cow slaughter, the basis for her iron lady reputation.

“I have rescued so many cows that there is no count - not just within Aligarh but outside the city as well. If there is any incident then the first person to reach is Aligarh mayor Shakuntala Bharti. If there is anyone to save their lives, it is Shakuntala Bharti,” she says smugly.

The gau raksha strand of Hindutva politics, represented by those like Bharti have so far been restricted to the fringes of the BJP, for a reason – while it was seen to have some political traction, it also carried the incendiary potential of communal tension.

But today, the new BJP government in Uttar Pradesh under the chief ministership of hardline priest Yogi Adityanath has converted the rhetoric of gau raksha, powered by half-truths and rumours, into policy by shutting down slaughterhouses and meat shops across the state.

The chaotic impact of these actions trace back to some erroneous claims made by the BJP in its manifesto, justifying the crackdown. The document stated that the party would shut down all illegal slaughterhouses and prohibit mechanised abattoirs as illegal cattle smuggling during the Samajwadi Party rule had led to a drop in UP’s livestock population and milk production.

The facts suggest otherwise.

The UP livestock census has shown a consistent upswing in buffalo population, from 229 lakhs in 2003 to 306 lakhs in 2012. The last all-India livestock census of 2012 shows a similar increase. It also indicates a 6.5 percent increase in cow population from the previous census in 2007.

As for milk, the national dairy board’s figures for UP have shown an increase from 24,863 tonnes in 2012 to 29,086 tonnes last year - a jump of 17 percent.

A FICCI report estimates that selling buffaloes that no longer yield milk for slaughter, greatly benefits farmers.

For the administration to enforce this policy even if it has nothing to do with unearthing illegal cow slaughter, has led to a frantic search for every minor lapse. To this end, teams of over 30 officials and policemen, representing ten departments set out every morning to inspect godowns, meat factories, unused buildings or even homes.

We accompanied one such team in Aligarh. In a cold drink storage unit, they found sacks of animal trachea. So far in over 35 raids in Aligarh, 9 premises have been sealed based on similar discoveries.

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Hindustan Times, 1 April, 2017, http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/up-s-anti-slaughterhouse-drive-based-on-half-truths-and-rumours/story-tiTCjHRYjAlxsncqFQxQYO.html


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