The shutting down of beef shops by beef suppliers alleging constant harassment by the Animal Welfare Board and NGOs, is a concern which needs not just urgent intervention, but a quick solution.
We are in the middle of the peak tourist and wedding season, and it doesn’t need a detailed pitch to figure what the fallout will be, that if the 20 tonnes of beef Goa gets from neighbouring Karnataka either does not arrive or is refused to be accepted by Goa meat traders due to a series of seizures by the police.
Beef traders in Goa have demanded the government import beef from the neighbouring States, as promised by the government in the Assembly. Moreover, the Goa Meat Complex needs to be functional. It has been temporarily shut down in October 2017. Currently beef is bought from traders in Belagavi and transported to Goa.
The decision of the beef traders to shut shop when major feasts like the Feast of Three Kings in Chandor, are on the anvil, make for uncomfortable optics, and the crisis should be resolved before an indefinite strike is called. Moreover, if restaurants and hotels run out of beef stock, the issue is likely to be blown up, especially when tourists take to social media. TTAG and the hotels will at some of point of time, need to intervene, if this is not handled quickly and efficiently.
There are no tangible indications that the beef trade is being done illegally. Cattle is not slaughtered across the border. Traders in Goa buy beef from wholesalers and supply to Goa after certificates from doctors and agencies are produced. But the Animal Welfare Bard, which has tipped off the police about beef shipments, has questioned the authenticity of some of the certificates, since some new certificates have been apparently introduced.
At this point, a meaningful and solution oriented dialogue is needed, to calm nerves and prevent lose statements, with a communal tinge. The Animal Welfare Board, other NGOs, the Qureshi Meat Traders Association (QMTA) and the government must meet and remove genuine bottlenecks or stumbling blocks. If indeed, some forms or certificates have been updated, there should be time given for the transition where the validity of old forms will hold for a week or ten days. After all, these are time tested movements of beef and not a sudden development where 20 tonnes each night are being moved from Karnataka to Goa, overnight.
At the same time the QMTA must be open for suggestions, to further ensure that the beef that they bring in is completely hygienic and slaughtered according to the best practices. However, they have a point when they say that sudden impediments to their businesses, impacts not just them but a large number of beef eating Goans.
Most importantly, it is critical that allegations that the alleged harassment by AWB members and NGOs are being done to harass minorities, must be put on hold with scope given for an early solution. But time is of the essence.
Inconvenience should not turn into hurt. What is now a scratch should not turn into a wound. To reiterate, all sides should step back and discuss each of the points raised on merit and pending the implementation of all solution points, the State should ensure supply from elsewhere.
