On Monday, the Karnataka Cabinet cleared an ordinance on the controversial anti-cow slaughter bill that has yet to be authorised by the Legislative Council. The bill will shortly be forwarded to the Governor for consideration.
“We have passed the anti-cow slaughter ordinance at cabinet level. It will now be sent to governor for approval. In few days, it will become a law and will be implemented across the state,” said Karnataka Minister of Animal Husbandry Prabhu Chauhan.
Once it comes into force, there will be a general ban on the slaughter of cows in the province. However, slaughterhouses will continue to run and beef eating with respect to buffalo meat will not be banned. ”
The anti-cow slaughter law is not recent. We have had it for decades. Formerly, there was a prohibition on slaughter of cows until the age of 13. We have increased it with an aim that aged cows should not be left out. Because the prohibition does not extend to buffaloes, there is no ban on beef consumption,” said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy.
The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Protection Bill-2020 recommends a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs five lakh for the offender. It seeks a complete ban on the slaughter of cows in the state and provides for stern penalties for those who partake in smuggling, illicit transport, cruelty to and slaughter of cows.
The government had to settle for an ordinance road, as the bill passed by the legislative assembly earlier this month in the Winter Session. Noting that the Centre’s objections to the 2010 BJP anti-cow slaughter bill were resolved, Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan said that the earlier one had banned the slaughtering of buffaloes. The new bill bans the killing of buffaloes before the age of 13, he added. In a statement released by his office, he said that cow is the origin of Indian civilization, religion, and the subsistence of farmers.
