Team Herald
PANJIM: PWD minister Sudin Dhavalikar has denied calling for complete ban on beef and closure of meat complexes in the State.
“I am not saying complete beef ban be enforced in Goa, but the cow slaughter Act must be implemented,” Dhavalikar said speaking to Herald
Admitting that there cannot be a complete ban on beef as food habits are individual choice, Dhavalikar said, “You cannot stop anyone from eating anything, but if there is a law on cow slaughter it must be implemented.”
When confronted with reports that he had demanded that State-run Goa Meat Complex Limited be shut down, he explained, “I was referring to cow slaughter, which is already banned here since 1978 under the Goa, Daman and Diu Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. Also, the government should ensure that nobody breaches this law. Why will I make statements on issues which are already clear to people here? Cow slaughter is already banned in Goa.”
Dhavalikar’s comments have come amid a raging debate on the issue and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s push for a law for a countrywide ban on cow slaughter.
After the BJP’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, the State’s new chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a ban on cow smuggling and asked police for a plan to close down illegal slaughterhouses. His counterpart in Chhattisgarh has said that anyone found committing cow slaughter in the state will be hanged.
In BJP-ruled Gujarat, which is set to go to polls at the end of this year, the assembly amended the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, to make cow slaughter a non-bailable offence with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and up to 10 years in jail for transporting beef in the state.
