Anti-cow slaughter bill draconian, burdens Dalits: Siddaramaiah

BENGALURU: In a scathing attack on the government for resorting to the ordinance route to push the Cow Slaughter legislation in its present form, Opposition Leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC president D K Shivakumar and other Congress leaders on Friday alleged that the bill is being brought in only for ‘emotional reasons’.The leaders said that the Bill is not new and has been in force since 1964. While the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Prevention Act of 1964 had taken into consideration the plight of farmers, its latest avatar being presented by the BJP government has ignored the reality. 

“It is draconian as it economically burdens the Dalits, OBCs and farmers. Each head of cattle consumes about 6 kg of fodder per day and where will a small farmer, who is on the brink of poverty, can source this,” Siddaramaiah asked.“The government supplies have been erratic and undependable. Worse, there has been almost 15 years of drought in the state, and with farmers living under penury, this law will only add to their burden,” the Congress leaders said.

If the government is concerned, it should bring a ‘uniform law’ across the country, including Kerala, Goa and the North-East, on cow slaughter, he said. “If a piece of legislation is being passed based on ‘mere feelings without a proper study’ then it amounts to fascism. Poorest of Dalits, OBCs and marginalised sections consume beef because it is cheap. If Congress comes to power, we will roll back all anti-people policies of this government,” he added.

“Each year, 3.4 crore male calves are born in the state and in 10 years their numbers reach a whopping 34 crore. Also, every year about six crore cows stop yielding milk because they are 10-12 years old. Who will look after them? Farmers travel length and breadth of the state and country to sell their unproductive cattle. When not sold, these cattle are abandoned, and they roam around as strays. After Uttar Pradesh passed the anti-cow slaughter bill, over 50 lakh heads of cattle are seen on the streets without proper shelter or fodder,” he said.

Quoting the figures of economist Vikas Rawal, Siddaramaiah said, “Also, India is second in the world in leather trade and accounts for 11 per cent of supplies, providing direct and indirect employment to lakhs of people. The leather industry earns the country $5.5 billion. Has the government done a thorough study of the socio-economic impact of this legislation before tabling it” he asked.