New Delhi: The new cattle slaughter rules, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) today termed it ‘anti-farmer’ and said it will ‘damage the country’s economy’. JIH Secretary General Muhammad Salim Engineer in a statement said, 'We feel that the new rules for cattle slaughter are completely anti-farmer, anti-people and will hurt India’s economy. 'The government is surreptitiously trying to impose a countrywide ban on the slaughter of cattle by issuing the order via the Ministry of Environment as it knows that it cannot impose a total ban on beef consumption directly.
By equating slaughter with cruelty and criminalising the natural process of culling of old, infirm and unproductive cattle and buffaloes, the government has hit the dairy farming industry as according to experts, nearly 40 per cent of their income is through the sale of unproductive cows. 'Another important aspect that is being ignored is that only 30 per cent of slaughtered cattle is used for meat consumption.
Rest of the 70 per cent is utilised to make leather, soap, toothpaste, brushes and surgical stitches. India exported Rs 30,000 crore worth buffalo meat in 2014-15 accounting for 1 per cent of India’s total exports. All these industries will be completely wrecked, causing huge unemployment and a great loss to the economy.' 'We demand that the government withdraws this gazette immediately and refrain from coming out with anti-farmer and anti-people policies,' he added. (UNI)