Assam Chief Minister Himanta Vishwa Sharma on Wednesday announced a total ban on public consumption of beef in restaurants and community gatherings in the state.
This decision was taken by the Council of Ministers meeting held the previous day. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Sharma claimed that the move was prompted by a discussion on some recent statements by Congress leaders, who accused the BJP of luring voters “with beef” in the Muslim-majority seat of Samguri. By-election last month.
According to the latest decision, beef cannot be eaten in any hotel, restaurant or community function – be it religious or otherwise. According to the CM, provisions to this effect will be added to the existing Assam Cattle Protection Act, 2021.
Assam law currently prohibits the sale and purchase of beef and beef products “in areas predominantly inhabited by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and other non-beef-eating communities” or “within a radius of 5 km” of any temple or shrine. Vaishnava monasteries).
“For the last few days, Congress president Bhupen Borah and party leader Rakibul Hussain have been expressing their displeasure with beef at various places and giving the impression that the people also do not want beef. In today’s cabinet meeting, we discussed their statement point-by-point and we saw that our existing laws regarding beef are very strong but there is no provision on whether beef can be eaten in community festivals or hotels or restaurants,’ said Sarma. Media Wednesday.
“We will put new provisions on these lines in our Act and I think these provisions will strengthen our Act and advance what Rakibul Hussain and Bhupen Borah have demanded. So we are hoping that the Congress will support it,” he said.
Assam Cattle Protection Act The law was initially applicable to all cattle (cows, oxen, bullocks, buffaloes). Buffalo was removed from the definition before the law was enacted. While it prohibits the slaughter of cows under any circumstances, other cattle may be slaughtered subject to a “fit for slaughter” certificate.
Last month, BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah defeated Congress’s Tanjil Hussain in Samaguri by 24,501 votes. For the Congress, the defeat came as a major setback – Tanzil’s father and party heavyweight Rakibul Hussain had held the seat for five consecutive terms before being elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
After this loss, Rakhibul toured various parts of North and Upper Assam and alleged that Sarma and the BJP had “betrayed” Hindutva by “beefing” and “going after Bengali Muslim voters”. Speaking in the presence of Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah at Ranganadi in Lakhimpur, he also called Sarma “two-faced” for betraying the “ethnic Assamese communities” living in north and upper Assam.
Sarma did not respond to these allegations, but instead the chief minister turned Hussain’s comments on their head on Sunday and said his government was willing to impose a beef ban in the state if the Congress “asked for it”.
The Indian Express reported that a section of the Assam Congress leadership was uncomfortable with this line and speculated that it could be used against them by the BJP. After Sharma’s announcement, a senior Congress leader said the party was in a tough spot.
“Having said these things, we entered. There was no need for the party president to support the MP (Rakibul MP from Dhubri) making such statements. We should stay away from communal water. Now a section of Hindu voters will be happy, while Muslims will be saddened by both. This is just Sarma’s political statement,’ said the leader.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) general secretary Aminul Islam also called it a “political gimmick”.
“We condemn this decision of the Cabinet, it is a completely personal matter affecting about 40% of the population of the state… The Chief Minister has found a point to shock the Congress and tried to play political games by jumping on it.” Before the Panchayat Elections and 2026 Assembly Elections. Cow is BJP’s territory, why did they pick it up and try to take this issue away from BJP,” he said.
According to the 2011 census, 34.22 percent of Assam’s population is Muslim while 3.74 percent is Christian.