From: bcsabha.kal...@gmail.com To: 8 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)TOPIC OF THE WEEK Beef ban is a recipe for disasterThe state government’s ban on beef is being seen as a political move, given that leather industries such as shoe-making continue to be encouraged and even offered sops. What do you make of the move?This ban on beef is clearly a political decision. Making such decisions, which divide our society further along religious lines, will create unnecessary controversy. The government should be careful while drafting such laws. The ban has created an unnecessary hue and cry, when the nation is suffering from bigger issues such as crime and safety for women.ILLUSTRATION: SHRIKRISHNA PATKARIf eating beef is a crime, then shouldn’t wearing goods made of leather also be a crime? On the other hand, if the ban is being implemented for humanitarian reasons, then shouldn’t it apply to other animals such as chickens and pigs? It is wrong for the government to cross the line into the personal lives and choices of the people.The people are the best judges of their own dietary decisions. We live in a democratic set-up and the government should not make these decisions for the people.— SN Kabra EVERYONE IS SET TO SUFFER AS A RESULT OF THIS UNFAIR LAWThe Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill received the President’s assent this week, nearly two decades after it was first submitted.While the fact remains that the protection of all animals is something our nation must work towards, the practical applicability of this bill, as well as its real-life repercussions on our society, have not been thought through.The beef ban will end up impacting the general public, irrespective of their religion. The cattle farmers who would earlier sell unproductive old stock at the abattoirs to buy young calves will no longer be able to do so, which will burden them financially. The ban may also lead to an increase in the numbers of abandoned cattle. The government will need to create enough shelters for old and abandoned cattle, without which we will have a messy situation of illegal slaughter and black marketing. The beef ban is unfair on the abattoir owners and beef vendors too, as their livelihood will be seriously impacted.For the common man, it will increase the prices of vegetables and other non-vegetarian options like mutton and chicken, impacting everyone. Leather goods may also see inflated prices in near future.A law that restricts the food habits of a particular community and strata should never have been passed.— Sumeet Nadkarni STATE WON’T HELP FEED; WHY DOES IT INTERFERE IN DIET?When our government doesn’t feed people for free, and is not much bothered about their health and welfare either, it has no right to tell people what they should or should not eat.Half of the world’s undernourished and malnourished population lives in our country. Maharashtra has its fair share of such unfortunate people. The state has even earned the sad notoriety of being the home of farmers who are committing suicide because of financial problems. How is it then sensible of the government to snatch away a source of cheap, protein-rich food from the people?Let the poor and marginalised eat what they can get and afford without the government creating further problems for them. This ban will even create a joblessness problem for many people, making earning their daily bread more problematic for them at both ends.— KP Rajan WHY SHOULD WE ALL FOLLOW ONE RELIGION’S RULES?The ban on beef, when seen in conjunction with the thriving leather goods industry, does seem rather ridiculous. There are religions in our country, the followers of which have beef as a staple food. Who are we to tell them to follow another religion’s rules?Besides this, beef is one of the cheapest food items available to the people. This ban is clearly politically motivated, and will create further religious problems in our already divided society.Besides this, some people just prefer to eat meat. Isn’t it an infringement on their personal rights to tell them what to eat? All the pros and cons should have been weighed before the government passed such a ban.— CK Subramaniam THE FARMER WILL SUFFER MOST AS A RESULT OF BEEF BANI think the ban on beef is a decision that was made without considering its wider repercussions or its effect on individuals engaged in related occupations.The farmer, who is already beset by multiple problems, will be the first to be effected severely by this ban. When a bullock becomes unproductive, farmers sell them to abattoirs. It fetches nearly half the amount needed to purchase a new one.Beef is preferred not just for its taste but also because it’s much cheaper than mutton. Vegetarians and egg-eaters will be affected also, as prices of these items will increase due to increased demand.Most importantly, the basic objective of stopping cattle slaughter to protect the animals will not work, since now old and unproductive cattle will just be dumped, resulting in them dying from long illnesses or hunger.— Ravindra Junagade 8 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)Usha MohanI DO NOT EAT BEEF, BUT FIND THE BAN FLAWEDThough I do not eat beef, I find the ban on the consumption of beef in Maharashtra flawed in many respects.For a sizeable population of non-vegetarians in the state, beef is the most affordable meat product available; mutton and chicken are far far costlier. By banning the consumption of almost all types of beef, the state is depriving these people, who belong mostly to the working class, of their daily quota of essential proteins.On a conservative estimate, there are thousands of people involved in the beef-trade, who are now likely to suffer.Following the ban, there is also concern over what will happen to the cattle that are too old to be productive. Does the government really plan to take care of them all? The owners, mostly farmers, could be stuck feeding the unproductive cattle for years, until they die of natural causes.Besides this, the ban on beef will result in the skyrocketing of prices of mutton, chicken and pork in the Indian market. To summarise, the blanket ban on beef in the state of Maharashtra is an unwise political move. ========== 8 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)Apoorva Dutt apoorva.d...@hindustantimes.com (This feature explores the lives of those unseen Mumbaiites essential to your day)‘BULL MEAT WAS CHEAP AND NOURISHING. WHAT WILL THE POOR EAT NOW?’ Anil D’Souza, 46, regards vegetarian food with barely concealed contempt. “Toast for breakfast? That is for weaklings,” he says.HT PHOTO: SHAKTI YADAV‘This ban feels like an unfortunate result of bringing religion into people’s personal lives. This is not about the cow. Cow meat has been banned for decades. This is a mixing of politics and religion, and it is sad to see.’D’Souza wakes up at 5.30 in the four-bedroom Bandra home he shares with nine others, including his wife and three school-going children. The house is briefly peaceful at this time, he says with a laugh.In this calm, D’Souza has a cup of strong coffee, reads his morning newspapers and eats a breakfast that typically includes pork chops, mutton curry and fried chicken in a single sitting.Food punctuates the rest of his day at regular intervals — lunch at 2 pm, tea at 6, dinner at 10. Each of these meals is equally heavy on meat.“Only the mentally and physically strong can digest hard protein,” says D’Souza. “Vegetarianism, which is recommended for some who have digestive issues, is a temporary solution to a deeper problem.”D’Souza suffers from gout and high uric acid levels, but puts these down to stress. “My job is very difficult,” he says.As the owner of Joseph’s, a cold storage and butcher shop located two buildings away from his Bandra home, meat is not only his livelihood but a way of life.D’Souza leaves for his shop at 7 am, pulling the shutters up himself and preparing to greet a steady stream of customers. “The expats tend to come early in the day, and I consider it an honour to be a good host to them in my country,” he says.D’Souza stands behind the counter for the first half of the day, which is the busiest time for the shop. His 15 employees, whom he fondly calls his family, manage the stock as it comes in, cut up the meats, and make sure the stringent hygiene standards are maintained.“Quality and hygiene are the most important priorities for me,” D’Souza says. “I’ll charge twenty rupees more, but the qualitative difference will be that of a hundred rupees.”At 1.30, D’Souza readies to shut the shop till 4 pm and head home for lunch. Today’s meal will be beef kheema fry androtis, with bacon on the side. His thoughts of lunch remind him of the beef ban, which has been haunting him ever since it was announced on Monday.“Listen, has the beef come today?” he calls out to one of his uniformed employees, who nods to indicate that it has. For now, all is well.“Customers have been stocking up on beef all week,” he says, frowning.He and his suppliers still have no clear idea of how supply will be affected, or how and when the ban will begin to be enforced. But as a butcher and a meatlover, D’Souza’s disapproval of it is as much personal as it is professional.“Cow meat has been banned in Maharashtra for decades,” he points out. “What we sold was bull. I sell on average 100 kilos of beef a day, to around 100 customers, at the rate of Rs 200 a kilo. Buffalo meat doesn’t taste the same, and demand will be so much more than supply. There are no dedicated buffalo meat farms in the state. Buffalo meat prices could go up by as much as 20%. And it will drive the prices of other meats, and even fish, up too. How will people afford to eat?”Currently, up to 40% of D’Souza’s business comes from beef, so the ban could hurt him and his customers. “Beef is a cheap yet delicious meat, a good source of protein to many who cannot afford more expensive meats or even vegetables,” he says. “This ban will hurt them and will result in the unemployment of thousands. If even one of them takes to a life of crime because of their unemployment, what answer will our government have then?”For himself, D’Souza says he isn’t worried. “This is just my job, not my passion, and I will make enough to get by on,” he says.It’s at 8 pm, after his shop shuts, that D’Souza pursues his “true calling” — ballroom dance.For five years, D’Souza, a former pro hockey player, has been training to become a professional ballroom dancer. “I know age is not on my side,” he says, “But age is just a number.”D’Souza trains for two hours every night. “Five years ago, with the high stress levels at my job — handling red tape and bureaucratic problems, managing the heavy workload — I felt 60 years old. Now I feel 20 again,” he says.After class, D’Souza returns home to chat with his wife and children over a late dinner. “I enjoy my work because I meet new people, talk about meat and it earns me money to take care of my family. But my life is really about my family, and ballroom dancing,” he says.
