Nagaland MLA Nienu condemns cow slaughter ban programme, calls out ‘hypocrisy’ of Gau Rakshaks

DIMAPUR — Leader of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislature party, Kuzholuzo Nienu has condemned a planned “cow slaughter ban” programme scheduled for September 28, in Kohima, calling it an attack on individual freedoms.

The programme, part of the Gau Dhwaj Sthapna Bharat Yatra, aims to make India “cow slaughter free.”

In a statement issued on Monday, he said that the “cow slaughter ban programme” was “tantamount to infringement of freedom of individual rights to choice of food.”

Asserting his commitment to opposing any imposition of food choice among the predominantly beef-eating population of Nagaland, he referred to the “beef festival protest” conducted in Kohima by NPF cadres in July 2017.

The MLA further accused the “so-called Gau Rakshaks” of hypocrisy, pointing to the significant role Hindu businessmen play in India’s substantial beef export industry. He cited data ranking India as the world’s 5th largest meat producer, with states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – not traditionally associated with beef consumption – topping the production charts.

The data, he said, “highlights the hypocrisy of imposition of cow slaughter in beef eating states in India, especially NE (north-east) region.”

Nienu went on to list four of the largest beef exporting companies in India, all owned by individuals who identify as Hindu, and questioned why efforts to curb cow slaughter weren’t directed towards these businesses if the goal was truly to protect the animal.

He also expressed solidarity with the Arunachal Students’ Union, who has voiced their opposition to the Gau Dhwaj Sthapna Bharat Yatra programme and its attempt to dictate food habits.

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