Rashida Bakait
BENGALURU–Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, passed in February, came as a blow to the entire industry dependent on cattle trade.
The purpose of the Act was to protect cattle and increase the breed of cattle.
The situation has been further aggravated by the adverse economic impact of the COVID pandemic and random lockdowns.
The BJP-led Karnataka government has brought on more misery for the people largely dependent on the livestock sector in one way or the other.
This is the conclusion of a November 2021 study led by public health specialist Sylvia Karpagam and independent researcher Siddharth Joshi.
Titled “Criminalizing Livelihoods, Legalising Vigilantism: The Adverse Impact of the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, the report analyses the consequences of the legislation on various communities, including farmers, cattle transporters, slaughterhouses, skin and hide curing units, butchers, eateries, street vendors and consumers.
The study exposes the hollowness of the justifications provided by the government for the enactment of the 2020 Act.
“The study betrays a complete lack of understanding of how the cattle production cycle works,” the report says.
The Act, according to the report, is also in “utter disregard for the destructive impact it will have on the lives, incomes, and livelihoods of the those who are part of the long chain of economic activities sustained by the slaughter of cattle.”
The report further says that 15 percent (or 180 million) Indians consume beef. This includes Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Other Backward castes (OBCs), and Adivasis. Beef is one of the cheapest sources of animal foods, and a kilogram costs about Rs 250 compared to mutton which is about Rs 800/kg.
Organ meat is even cheaper. It is also nutritionally dense. Moreover, grass-fed Indian beef is much sought-after in other countries because it is lean, unlike stall-fed cattle.
While farmers usually sell unproductive cattle to traders who transport them to slaughterhouses, the new legislation prohibits the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, and buffaloes (below the age of 13 years) criminalizes traders who buy cattle for slaughter. With no option to sell unproductive animals, farmers have to continue taking care of the animal, making it economically unviable.
The report also highlights farmers lamenting how the legislation portrays them like criminals, leaving them vulnerable to vigilantes.
On the one hand, when Karnataka is grappling with malnutrition, the researchers emphasize the importance of beef as a nutrition source. On the other hand, in one of the daily newspapers, Karpagam demanded that the government revoke the Act. “Else, it should at least allow the slaughter of all other animals such as ox and bull. Now the exemption is allowed only for buffalo, which people in Karnataka do not consume,” she said. The report was an initiative by a group of researchers from the Ahaara Namma Hakku collective.
