Beef will not be allowed in most urban centres in Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma

In an interview with DH, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma this law would help keep communal tensions in check

A new Bill BJP-led government in Assam tabled in the Assembly on Monday seeks to prohibit the sale of beef in areas predominantly inhabited by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and other non-beef eating communities and within a 5 km radius of temples.

In an interview to DH on Tuesday evening, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, said the rules to be framed subsequently for enforcing new provisions would bar people from consuming beef in most urban centres in Assam, even inside homes as they have mix population. Sarma also defended his comments about population control only among “Bengali speaking” Muslims and the eviction drive.

The Assam Cattle Preservation Bill 2021 talks about regulating cattle slaughter and sale of beef. Tell us who will be able to eat beef in Assam and who will not.

HBS: Any village which constitutes 100 per cent beef-eating community will be allowed to eat beef. But in a village with mix population, you are not going to eat beef. You also can not bring cattle from outside Assam, except for the purpose of dairy and farming activity and inter-district movement of cattle will also be similarly regulated.

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So what about our cities, where mix population lives?

HBS: In most of the cities in Assam, beef will not be allowed. But in places like Guwahati, where one or two areas are there with 100 per cent Muslims, beef will be allowed. Even in a flat, if there is a single non-beef eating community, beef cannot be consumed.

But the bill says the prohibition will be only in areas with predominantly Hindu and other non-beef eating communities.

HBS: These details about prohibition will come in the rules to be framed once the bill is passed in the Assembly. The power of framing rules lies with the executive (government).

But don’t you think such prohibitions will create communal tension or attacks like what happened in Uttar Pradesh (lynching)?

HBS: Nothing will happen. No private individual will be allowed to take law in their hands or create tension. But the government will take action against those violating the new provisions. The law-enforcing agencies will act. This will, on the contrary, check communal tension as now we have seen miscreants often tries to disturb the communal harmony by putting beef in a temple. This bill wants to prohibit the sale of cattle within a 5-km radius of temples, satras in order to respect the religious sentiments of the Hindus.

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The neighbouring states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram where beef is eaten will have a problem transporting cattle.

HBS: They will be allowed to transport cattle with a valid permit from their government.

But Assam already has a Cattle Preservation Act passed in 1950. Why this new bill?

HBS: That bill is not taking care of the recent realities. There was no cattle smuggling to Bangladesh then but it is now rampant. Cattle worth thousands of crores are being brought from West Bengal for smuggling to Bangladesh via Assam and Meghalaya. Earlier, Muslims in Assam did not consume beef in Hindu areas in order to respect religious sentiments but things changed after large-scale migration Assam witnessed from Bangladesh since then.

Some of your recent comments and actions like appeal to the Bengali Muslims to go for population control and the eviction drive also led many says these are anti-Muslim.

HBS: We are not looking at religion while evicting people from our forests or while arresting those involved in drug smuggling. Population control is our road map to empower minorities to bring them to economic stability. We have seen their poverty, hunger and the pressure on land.

Opposition parties are saying that you are doing all these as part of BJP’s Hindutva agenda and RSS’s diktat.

HBS: Yes. I am a BJP Chief Minister and I have to follow the BJP agenda, BJP’s manifesto, and the commitments to the people. So what is wrong with it? I take pride in that. In our manifesto also, we promised a new cattle slaughter act and people elected us to power again.