Chhattisgarh is the latest BJP-ruled state to enforce a meat ban even as controversy continued to rage in Mumbai where the High Court ruled that a prohibition on sale of meat is not feasible. The government has banned the sale of meat from Sept 11 to Sept 19 during Ganesha Chaturthi.
The meat ban is already in force in Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat.
Rajasthan government ordered ban on sale of meat and fish on September 17, 18 and 27 on account of festivals, including that of Jains.
In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, Police Commissioner Shivanand Jha has ordered a ban on the slaughter of cattle like cows and goats for a week during the Jain fasting period.
The Bombay High Court is expected to decide today on a petition challenging the ban. Mutton traders have said that it discriminates against their right to a livelihood.
“An eight-day straight ban can’t be a formula. Mumbai is a modern city,” the court observed yesterday.
The court suggested that if the Jain community had a problem with animals being slaughtered in the open and displayed in shops, a direction can be issued against it.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the High Court yesterday ordered the police to strictly enforce an existing ban on the sale of beef, triggering angry reactions from residents, politicians and separatist groups.