INTRODUCTION:
Cows in India are viewed somewhat differently as compared to other countries. Traditionally, most Hindus all over the country revere cows as sacred animals, believing them to be reincarnations of several Hindu Gods and Goddesses. A great majority of Indians, especially those in rural areas, have traditionally been agriculturalists. Cows for them act not just a means of milk and dairy products but also agricultural help in the form of ox-driven ploughs and organic supply of manure. The Hindu religion generally considers all forms of life as sacred; and various animals ranging from a tiny insect to a gigantic elephant are considered equally sacred[1]. Many festivals in India are still celebrated to honour several animals including even the most unusual ones such as Nag Panchami (Snake Worship) and at the Karni Mata Temple in Bikaner, Rajasthan where rats are revered.
Therefore, one may ask why cows hold a special place in Hinduism as compared to other animals. It is perhaps because it is looked at as the Kamdhenu or the giver to fulfil all desires or the symbolism attached to it where its legs symbolize four Vedas, her udders symbolize four Purushartha (or aims, i.e., dharma or justice, artha or material wealth, kama or desire and moksha or salvation), her horns symbolize the gods, her face symbolizes the sun and the moon, and her shoulders Agni or the god of fire[2]. Considered an important source of meat, cows have been traditionally and historically slaughtered but such is not the case in India where many states have passed laws to forbid the slaughter of cows. It must be noted that India is not just home to Hindus but also other religions of the sizeable following which permitthe consumption of beef. In this article, we shall see how these laws have been put into place and whether or not they are violative of the freedom to carry out any trade, occupation, or business as given under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
CURRENT AND HISTORICAL SCENARIO:
India is currently the second-largest exporter of beef in the world-just behind Brazil, and the bovine meat industry has a staggering contribution of 4.5% to the GDP in 2015-16[3]. However, this is only the export of buffalo meat known as carabeef. The controversy regarding the ban on the slaughter of cows became a topic of several debates in 2015 when the Government of Maharashtra had banned the slaughter of cows which popularly came to be known as the ‘Beef Ban’. Currently, cow slaughter is banned in 24 out of 29 States in the Country.
Aside from Hinduism, consumption of cow meat is also forbidden in Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. It must be noted that it was during the reign of Babur where we can see that cow meat was banned first, which was followed by his succeeding heirs to the Mughal Throne[4]. Many other kings including Chhatrapati Shivaji had banned it with heavy punishments for the offense. It was only during the British Raj when the slaughter of cows was made legal as an effort to destroy Indian traditions and make them adopt a more British lifestyle. The slaughter of cows was the factor that ignited the Revolt of 1857 where a rumour surfaced that the gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifles were greased with cow and pig fat which was against the faith of Hindus and Muslims respectively. It was subsequently banned by the last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar[5].
This ban on cow slaughter has left the Muslims in India quite vulnerable to violence as is evident from the recent mob-lynchings against people only suspected of carrying or consuming beef. These attacks are mostly perpetrated by cow-vigilante groups who use violent or demeaning ways to attack those suspected of eating beef or slaughtering cows. Between 2010 and 2017, a total of 63 cow-vigilante attacks have occurred which have resulted in 28 deaths of which 24 were Muslims and these attacks have peaked after the BJP Government had come into power in 2014[6].
LEGISLATIVE APPROACH:
The fact that cows are important to the rural household was understood by the makers of our Grundnorm, the Constitution of India where it finds a mention in Part IV as a Directive Principle of State Policy. Article 48 directs the State to “endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle[7].” Provisions regarding the safeguarding of cattle are also found in the 15th and 16th Entries in the State List (List II) of the Seventh Scheduleas well as under the 18th Entry in the Twelfth Schedule for the regulation of slaughterhouses and tanneries.
The issue that we will be addressing in this article is concerned with whether the butchers, who were involved in the slaughter of cows as a means of livelihood, are being denied their fundamental right to carry out trade, occupation or business as under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. This issue was raised in the case of Mohd. Hanif Qureshi v. State of Bihar[8]where the constitutionality of various State Acts particularly the laws in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar against the slaughter of cows were questioned in the light of the fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g). In this case, it was held by the Supreme Court that these laws were valid to the extent that they prohibit the slaughter of cows and calves but declared that the law will be void to the extent prohibiting the slaughter of breeding bulls.
This can be further elaborated in the case of Mohd. Faruk v. State of Madhya Pradesh[9]wherein an order made by the Municipal Corporation of Jabalpur, prohibiting the slaughter of bulls and bullocks was held to be violative of Article 19(1)(g). In another such case, the Supreme Court on seeing that many states had relaxed the ban on slaughter by allowing the slaughter of cows over the age of 16 yearswho had become infirm and unproductive, held the relaxation reasonable by taking a scientific and economically cautious approach stating that a balance must be struck between public morals and the freedom of trade[10]. It was in 1996, that the Supreme Court came into action again where it held that a total ban on the slaughter of cattle was not necessary to carry out the Directive Principle given under Article 48 of the Constitution[11].
The culmination of all these cases was enough to provide an important judgment regarding the same in the 21st Century where both the law as well as the society had undergone considerable changes since the first judgment in 1958. With the advancements in technology and alternative sources of energy being put to use, the National Commission on Cattle in its report in 2002 was of the opinion that a bull or a bullock may remain useful even after it attains the age of 16 as it would still produce excreta and dung which may be used in the production of biogas and thus, making it improper to allow the slaughter of cattle past the given age[12]. This report was considered and acknowledged in the 2005 judgment of State of Gujarat v. Mirzapur Moti KureshiKassabJamat[13]wherein the Supreme Court reconsidered its earlier stance and stated that a cow would be productive even after the age of 16 for the aforementioned reasons and also stated that the butchers are free to slaughter other forms of cattle other than those mentioned in the Act and it would not be violative of Article 19(1)(g).
If we were to look at the recent Government Notification of 2017 [Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017], it has effectively banned the slaughter of all types of cattle, all over the country. This has become rather impractical as cattle are slaughtered not just for meat but also for their leather and other essential parts or derivatives of those parts, which are an essential material for a variety of objects including necessary ones like soap, paintbrushes, gelatine-based capsules and surgical stitches[14].It was met with protests especially in the southern state of Kerala, where, in a case, a stay order was obtained against the above-mentioned rules against the ban on slaughter of all cattle, which was made applicable to the whole of India[15]. This was one of the key aspects of the election manifesto of the Bhartiya Janata Party which included banning the slaughter of cattle all over the country which was campaigned aggressively under the headings of “BJP kasandesh, bachegigai, bachegadesh” and “Modi komatdan, gaikojeevandan”;perhaps hinting that majoritarian public values are considered to be more important than the general laissez-faire system of the market, an important feature found in many modern, secular, and effective democracies.
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
Now coming back to the act that kick-started this debate again in 2015. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, in addition to the current ban (since 1995), prohibited the slaughter of cows. This amendment was challenged in the Bombay High Court on grounds of being violative of Articles 19(1)(g), 21, 25, and 29 wherein the Bench upheld the constitutional validity of the Act. Gujarat has also made slaughter of cows an offense punishable by life imprisonment and up to ten years for transportation[16]. It is a rather disturbing trend that we are seeing today where right-wing extremist Hindu organisations affiliated or unaffiliated to the ruling party are hijacking these debates and have taken upon themselves to protect not just cows but their idea of Hindutva as well. More often than not, the Government seems to turn a blind eye on the criminal activities of these organisations. The blatantly done violenceby cow vigilantes has created a general feeling of terror among minority communities, particularly Muslims, who have traditionally been butchers or meat traders, and lower-caste Dalits involved in leather and tannery industries.
Given such dangerous constellations, which also impact on freedom of speech and expression, it is worth questioning if there is any feasible solution to the issue of protection of cattle suitable to all demographics of the country.The way forward may seem to strike another compromise through debate and deliberation between those involved in the trade of beef and the cow-vigilante organisations along with the politicians as well as the law. In an atmosphere where the current Government is slowly losing its status as one having democratic values, where peaceful protests are being brutally repressed and the fundamental right of the Freedom of Speech and Expression seems to only exist at the convenience of the Government, we have a long way to traverse in addressing this issue.
By-
Shivam Mulik
[1]GovindasamyAgoramoorthy, Minna J. Hsu: The Significance of Cows in Indian Society between Sacredness and Economy, Anthropological Notebooks,Page 5–12 (2012)
[2]Id
[3] Aradhana Choudhury, An Overview of India’s Beef Export Industry, Young Bhartiya, November 18, 2019, available at https://www.youngbhartiya.com/article/an-overview-of-india-s-beef-export-industry
[4] Anand Patel, Fact Check – Did Mughals Ban Cow Slaughter, India Today, September 14, 2018, available at https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/rajasthan-bjp-madan-lal-saini-mughal-cow-slaughter-1297573-2018-07-27.
[5]ShailendraDhari Singh, Novels on the Indian Mutiny (New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann India), Page 230–46, 1973.
[6] Tommy Wilkes, Roli Srivastava, Protests held across India after attacks against Muslims, Reuters, June 28, 2017, available at https://in.reuters.com/article/india-protests/protests-held-across-india-after-attacks-against-muslims-idINKBN19J2C3
[7]Constitution of India, 1949, Article 48
[8]Mohd. Hanif Qureshi v. State of Bihar[AIR 1958 SC 731]
[9]Mohd. Faruk v. State of Madhya Pradesh[1970 SCR (1) 156]
[10]Haji Usmanbhai Qureshi v. State of Gujarat[1986 SCR (2) 719]
[11]Hasmattullah v. State of Madhya Pradesh[AIR 1996 SC 2076]
[12]Report of the National Commission on Cattle (RashtriyaGovanshAyog), Chapter V(I) and V(II), July 2002, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.
[13]State of Gujarat v. Mirzapur Moti KureshiKassabJamat[(2005) 8 SCC 534]
[14]Prabhash K. Dutta, Cattle Slaughter Economy: How Ban on Sale of Cattle for Killing May Affect Industry,India Today News, May 29, 2017, available at https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cattle-slaughter-economy-kerala-calf-beef-festival-979880-2017-05-29
[15]S. Selvagomathy v. Union of India[(2017) SCC Online Mad 23867].
[16] The Wire, Life Term for Cow Slaughter in Gujarat After Assembly Clears Bill, April 1, 2017, available at https://thewire.in/law/gujarat-assembly-clears-bill-life-term-cow-slaughter