India: Congress 'satyagraha' to protest beef ban law in Mumbai

Mohammed Wajihuddin,TNN | May 16, 2015, 03.04 AM IST

MUMBAI: More than two months after the state government banned beef through the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, the Congress has broken its silence with a dramatic announcement. Taking a leaf from the Gandhian method of peaceful resistance, the party has planned to launch an anti-beef law protest and called it "Beef Satyagrah".

"Like Gandhiji's satyagrahas, it will be a peaceful protest in which farmers, people rendered jobless in the leather and tannery industries and others affected by the ban will participate," said Congress city president Sanjay Nirupam. He explained that, as part of the protest, hundreds of farmers will be asked to bring their old bulls and bullocks to the city. They may not be allowed to take the cattle to the CM's bungalow, but the move will serve its purpose, observed Nirupam.

The satyagraha's second phase, said Nirupam, is a "beef festival" where 5,000 people will eat beef together in a massive feast. "Let cops arrest them all. The constitution allows me to eat whatever I want to. I don't eat beef, but that doesn't mean I should stop others from eating it. Who is the state to peep into people's kitchens?" asked Nirupam. Asked why Congress had maintained a silence over the issue till now, he said: "BJP wanted to polarize people on the beef issue and trap Congress in it. We refused to be entrapped."

MPCC president Ashok Chavan said the beef ban had affected not just Muslims. "It is affecting the agrarian economy and people associated with the leather industry," he said. Mumbadevi MLA Amin Patel suggested roping in actor Rishi Kapoor and writer Shobhaa De in the satyagraha.

Beef traders' leader Mohd Ali Qureishi said Congress took long to realize the gravity of the issue. "It is a welcome move, but Congress should have withdrawn the beef ban bill during its 15-year rule," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Congress-satyagraha-to-protest-beef-ban-law-in-Mumbai/articleshow/47303519.cms