Modi Government’s U-Turn On Cows Slaughter Notification 

New Delhi: The NDA government at the Centre did a U-turn on the issue of sale of cows and buffaloes at animal markets for slaughter. Earlier on May 25, the government had issued a notification prohibiting the sale and buffaloes for slaughter which came in for sharp criticism from many quarters and turned into a raging controversy across the country.

Based on feedback from many states, the Central government is reported to have decided to roll back the controversial notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change which came with a rider that cattle could not be sold without a written declaration that the sale was not for slaughter. The BJP's critics including Congress leaders, Kerala and West Bengal Chief Ministers among several others, criticised the Centre for what they perceived to be imposition of the BJP's ideology on the country. They argued that it went against the grain of pluralism and diversity which India stood for. The BJP was accused of trying decide as to what the people of this country should eat.

There were protests in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as well, apart from some states in the north-east. But the government on its part refuted the argument that it was attempting to impose its will or the BJP's ideology on the nation. It also rebutted all criticism that it was trying to influence food habits of people across the country. In June, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had hinted that the government did not have a closed mind on the issue, nor did it consider the matter to be a prestigious one for the government. The Madras High Court meanwhile, issued a stay order on the notification and when the matter reached the Supreme Court, the Union government said that it was not trying to seek a modification to the High Court order.