Earlier, cow vigilantes were at risk: Karnataka Deputy CM Ashwath Naryan on anti-cow-slaughter law

According to a Bill passed in the state on Wednesday, cow slaughter may attract a fine up to Rs 10 lakh and seven years imprisonment

CN Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, has said that the new anti-cow-slaughter Bill of the state will help protect ‘Gau Rakshaks’.

Speaking to NDTV, Narayan said, “Earlier, life was at risk for vigilantes, not those who were in the (cattle) trade.”

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On Wednesday, Karnataka’s BJP government passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020. Cow slaughter has been prohibited in the state since the 1960s but this bill adds bulls and buffaloes under 13 years of age into the definition of ‘cattle’. It has also made the punishment for slaughter stricter.

Violent incidents related to cattle slaughter have been on the rise since 2015, wherein 46 people across the country have died and 146 were injured, according to data quoted in the report. None of these people were cattle vigilantes according to NDTV. But Narayan has said that in Karnataka, only cow vigilantes “have lost their lives”.

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“People in the (cattle) trade were completely armed. They were taking lives and killing people. It is not the vigilantes,” he added.

As per the Bill, cow slaughter will attract imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, the CM said.

The Bill contains within it Section 17, which protects ‘persons acting in good faith’. Narayan said this provision has been made keeping in mind cow vigilantes. “Vigilantes or anyone who is working for a cause and the law of the land should definitely have a scope to work in this provision,” he said.

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Narayan said that this is not an agenda, because BJP is already in power. This is only a means for the state to preserve and promote its culture. The Bill’s objectives state that the government wants to ensure “preservation and improvement of breeds of cattle” and “organization of agriculture and animal husbandry”.