Uttar Pradesh: Days before Bakrid, Muslim organisations demand 'national animal' status for cow

Lucknow: Just a few days before Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid), several Muslim organisations are rallying behind the demand made by Maulana Arshad Madani, president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (Arshad Madani faction), to declare the cow the 'national animal'.

Muslim organisations are hopeful that this move will curb the political exploitation of the issue of cow slaughter, as well as put an end to incidents of mob lynching and other atrocities committed in its name.

While many are advocating for the initiatives to build a consensus within the community on this issue, some even intend to meet the prime minister and the chief minister in this regard.

This initiative holds particular significance because, in the country's most populous state, which also has a substantial Muslim population, such demands have historically tended to originate from Hindu organisations.

Raised during this final Eid-ul-Azha preceding the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, this voice emerging from the Muslim community carries its own distinct significance.

Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, wholeheartedly supported Madani's demand to designate the cow as the 'National Animal'.

Speaking to PTI, he said that his objective would be to forge a consensus among various Muslim organisations on this matter. To this end, a meeting of key representatives from prominent Muslim organisations will soon be convened in Delhi, where a joint memorandum of demands will be drafted and subsequently submitted to the country's top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He asserted that the government should fulfil this demand immediately, as doing so would not only bring uniformity to the government's policies regarding cow slaughter across the entire nation but would also help eradicate incidents of mob lynching and other acts of oppression perpetrated in the name of cow slaughter.

Siraj Qureshi, President of the All India Qureshi Jamaat -- a prominent organisation of the Qureshi community involved in the meat trade -- said that the issue of cow sacrifice has once again become a heated topic in political circles ahead of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid), and the unfolding events in West Bengal serve as the latest example of this trend.

Openly supporting the demand to declare the cow the national animal, he affirmed that, if necessary, his organisation would seek a meeting with the prime minister in this regard.

Qureshi noted that his organisation has long been advocating for the declaration of the cow as the national animal. However, to date, no government has taken any concrete initiative in this direction.

Speaking on the matter, National General Secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, Maulana Yasoob Abbas, remarked that while the demand to declare the cow as the national animal is valid, it is the government's responsibility to act upon it with sincerity.

He asserted that the government's intent regarding the cow should be clearly reflected in its policies, ensuring a consistent approach, rather than a situation where cows are consumed without restriction in some states, while lives are taken in the name of the cow in others.

Endorsing Madani's demand, National Vice President of the Indian Union Muslim League Kausar Hayat Khan said it is technically sound and that the government should fulfil it with absolute sincerity.

When asked about Muslim organisations uniting on a common platform to forcefully raise this demand, Khan observed that this cause could only gain full momentum if all Muslim organisations came forward together.

Criticising the government's policies regarding the animal, Khan pointed out that beef is still consumed without restriction in Goa, Assam, and various northeastern states. He highlighted the irony that most of these states are governed by the very same Bharatiya Janata Party, which, in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as now in West Bengal, adopts a divergent stance by politicising the issue of cow slaughter.

Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali, a senior executive member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said, "Our Hindu brethren hold religious sentiments regarding the cow; therefore, out of respect for their feelings, the cow should be declared the national animal." Demanding uniformity in laws regarding cow slaughter across the entire country, Maulana Rashid asserted that a single, uniform law against cow slaughter should be implemented nationwide.

Responding to a question regarding the possibility of a coordinated effort by Muslim organisations to have the cow declared the national animal, he remarked that all religious organisations should come forward in this direction.

Maulana Arshad Madani, President of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (AM faction), reiterated his long-standing demand in a statement issued last Wednesday, just days before Bakrid, the second major festival for Muslims.

He asserted that the cow should be accorded the status of the national animal, and provisions for the strictest possible action should be enacted against those involved in the purchase and sale of cows for slaughter, as well as those trading in cow meat.

Highlighting that this demand is not new, Maulana Kaab Rashidi, the legal advisor for the organisation's Uttar Pradesh unit, pointed out that Madani had made a similar demand during an All-Faith Conference held in Mumbai in 2014.

He added that in recent years, various Hindu organisations have also intensified their demands for declaring the cow the national animal. However, no visible progress appears to have been made by the government in this regard.

The issue of cow slaughter has held significant importance, particularly in the politics of North India, and governments have often adopted a strict stance regarding it.

In 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government shut down all illegal slaughterhouses in an alleged effort to strictly curb cow slaughter. However, licenses were subsequently issued, subject to stringent regulations, specifically for the trade of buffalo meat.