By Er.Izhar Khan

Truly “The Ache Din” dreams used as election pitch by BJP government led by Honourable Prime Minister Mr NarendraModi seems to become a reality but for whom remains a question. In less than two weeks two state governments led by BJP Maharashtraand Haryana banned the slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks a and move was celebrated through tweet by Chief of Minister,DevendraFadnavis. Yet the reaction to this decision remains divided among the different groups. Orthodox Hindus welcomed the decision and whereas Communist party of India protested the ban by holding nationwide Beef festival.

In backlash to questions from various stakeholders in this value chain BJP government tries to justify ban by saying that slaughtering these cattle is detrimental to Indian agriculture and hurts the Hindu sentiment in India where cows are considered to be sacred animal and worshipped. In an interview to NDTV KiritSomaiya, one of BJP MP from Mumbai who led the campaign defended the ban by saying that even cow dung and urine help the agriculture economy. On the other side Quraishi community in Maharashtra sees this as assault on community aimed to economically weaken them.

According to Ministry of Agriculture, India has world’s largest livestock population and also India is largest beef exporter in the World. States ban on slaughter will surely hamper the exporters and will decrease the foreign exchange revenue for the states.

In India there is a myth that cow is slaughtered and eaten only by Muslims however reports shows that a large number of Non -Muslim population eat beef anddepend on this industry for their livelihood. That is why in Maharashtra state Non- Muslims are forerunner in March against the beef ban. Even to my surprise four out six top exporters from India are Non-Muslims.

In Maharashtra anyone found to be selling beef or in possession of it can be jailed for five years and fined Rupees 10,000 whereas in Haryana the punishment is much severe with 10 years of imprisonment at the same there is only 2 years of imprisonment for Women Molester. This proves that the cows are safer than the women in the country. Nationalists deem this as unnecessary action without any concrete proof or data to justify the ban when country is grappling with many serious problems such as rape, poverty, growth, etc.  According to the National Crime Records Bureau, between 2012 and 2013, rape figures increased by more than a quarter to more than 33,700 sex crimes.  In 2014, the number of reported rapes in Delhi alone exceeded 2,060.

We should never forget that India is a democratic country where preserving the rights of all communities and individuals personal freedom needs to be protected by State. I remember in a TV program when NarendraModi was asked about why you do not give a ticket to Muslim candidates and he replied that “KyaDesh Muslim aur Hindu koDekhkarChalega”.Now I want to ask him the same question “kyaDesh Hindu Qanun se Chalega?” Today beef, tomorrow goat,chicken,Onions, etc. is this the way to run the government? I don’t want to abuse anyone’s religious belief but no one should be forced to accept the others belief in a democratic country like India.

I question the Modi government on its integrity for the democracy of India. Will this government be able to protect the rights of Minority and provide them with equal opportunity to contribute to the growth of India or will leave them in the hands of radical Hindus who threatens to destroy the democratic structure of India and be opportunistic to fulfil their ambition of making India a Hindu nation. At the same time I appeal to all Indian Muslims not to take the law in their hands andprotest against any tyranny decision in a peaceful way. At the end I appeal to all Muslim leaders to device a comprehensive plan to take out community from an unending social and economic backwardness.