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A massive political row erupted after Himanta Biswa Sarma announced beef ban in Assam.
Beef ban: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (PTI Image)
Assam Beef Ban: A political row has erupted over the Assam government’s decision to ban the public consumption of beef in the state with the Opposition labelling it “against the right to freedom” while the ruling BJP lauding the state Cabinet’s call.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced on Wednesday that his government has decided to ban the consumption of beef in restaurants, hotels and public places, drawing sharp reactions from the Opposition.
BJP Vs Opposition On Beef Ban
Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan slammed the BJP’s Assam government for the move calling the decision “interference in personal lives” of people. She said that such decisions go against the Constitution of the country.
“This is against the right to freedom and if the government will continue interfering in personal lives then the nation will head towards dictatorship…It is the beauty of the country that we have people following different cultures, religions. These kinds of decisions are against the Constitution,” she said.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, representing Assam’s Jorhat constituency in Lok Sabha, linked Himanta Biswa Sarma’s move to his “defeat” in Jharkhand where the Assam CM was election co-incharge. He said that Sarma is attempting to hide his “shameful loss” in neighbouring Jharkhand and has come up with the “conspiracy”.
“In Jharkhand, BJP suffered a shameful defeat under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma…he is trying to hide his defeat and shameful loss, he has come up with this conspiracy. I believe that the way Jharkhand people defeated the politics of hatred and infiltrators, the same way in the coming election, people of Assam will punish the corrupt govt of Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Gogoi said.
Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut quoted the RSS as saying that it bats for freedom for consumption of any food items in the country, and asked if other BJP-ruled states will impose a similar beef ban in their states.
“RSS leaders have said that there should be no prohibition on food in this country…If they have imposed a ban in Assam, why has it not been done in Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur – where they have governments? Why did you not ban beef there? Do it. Why only Assam?…” he said.
BJP Reacts
BJP MP Rameswar Teli thanked the Assam Chief Minister for the beef ban. “This is good. I would like to thank the CM of Assam,” he said.
Kerala BJP Vice President Major Ravi cautioned Sarma against giving “wrong message” to the people and suggested him to clarify that “beef is not cow” but “buffaloes and bulls”.
“First of all you need to understand what is beef and what is cow, if you suddenly ban beef, this will give a wrong message to so many people…beef is not cow…(Assam) CM should not have said that…if somebody wants to eat, they should…there should be freedom to eat what you want…cow we worship…I haven’t seen any place where cows are being slaughtered. Beef is buffaloes and bulls,” he said.
He suggested to the Assam Chief Minister that he should first have understood the difference and then impose a ban.
“We shouldn’t give wrong message to people and create communal issues,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
