J&K administration makes u-turn on cow slaughter ban on Bakra Eid

No restriction on slaughter of animals, earlier communication misconstrued, says official

After its order to ban the slaughter of cows, calves and camels on Eid-ul-Azha (Bakra-Eid) created uproar, Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday clarified there were no bans on slaughter of animals on the upcoming Muslim festival.

Director Planning of Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Departments, G.L. Sharma, said the earlier communication was “misconstrued.” “It was not an order, (but) a letter. The letter was sent to enforcement agencies to enforce the laws of the Animal Welfare Board. This is not a ban on slaughter and sacrifice,” Sharma clarified.

In an earlier communication to the divisional commissioners and IGPs of Jammu as well as Kashmir, he had called for banning slaughter of cows, calves, and camels on Bakra-Eid.

“ …..large numbers of sacrificial animals are likely to be slaughtered in the UT of J&K during Bakra Eid festival scheduled from 21-23 July, 2021 & the Animal Welfare Board of India, in view of animal welfare, has requested for implementation of all precautionary measures to strictly implement the Animal Welfare Laws viz. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; Transport of Animal Welfare Rules, 1978; Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001; Slaughter House Rules, 2001; Municipal Laws & Food Safety & Standards Authority of India directions for slaughtering of animals (under which camels cannot be slaughtered) during the festival,” the letter reads.

“In view of the above, I am directed to request you to take all preventive measures as per the provisions of acts & rules referred above for implementation of the animal welfare laws, to stop illegal killing of animals & to take stringent action against the offenders violating welfare laws,” it added.

The letter created uproar in Kashmir with an association of groups of Muslim scholars calling it “arbitrary” and “unacceptable.” The association, ‘Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema’, said in a statement that “the sacrifice of permitted animals, including bovines” on Bakra-Eid “is an important tenet of religion on this day.”

On every Bakra-Eid, Muslims in Kashmir sacrifice animals worth Rs 500 crore. While most of the people in Srinagar and other urban areas sacrifice sheep and goat in villages, oxen are also sacrificed. Sacrificing sheep, goat, oxen and camels is an important ritual for Muslims on Bakra-Eid.

In October 2015, the J&K High Court disposed of a petition on beef ban issue, saying that the court cannot direct the state to frame a particular law or enact a law in a particular manner. In July 2017, the Supreme Court had also suspended a newly introduced law that had banned sale of cattle for slaughter.

Despite Muslims constituting 68.3% of J&K’s population, the slaughter of bovines and sale of beef has been banned since the pre-partition era when the then princely state was ruled by Dogra rulers. In the Dogra era, the ban was strictly enforced across the state.

Though traditionally Kashmiris prefer mutton over beef, especially in the urban areas, the order to ban beef in the past was seen as an attack on religious identity- especially in Kashmir with separatists terming it “interference in the religion”.

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