India's Maharashtra state bans beef
Sale
or possession of beef is punishable by up to five years in jail in western
state - home to financial hub Mumbai.
Maharashtra, one of
India's most populous states, has introduced a ban on beef so strict that
even possession could land a person in jail for five years, officials have
said.
The country's Hindu majority considers cows
sacred, and several states have already banned their slaughter.
But the latest measures in the western state
of Maharashtra - home to India's commercial centre Mumbai - go even
further, making the sale or possession of beef an offence punishable by a
five-year jail term or a $160 fine.
The Indian Express newspaper said the measures became
law after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to a legal amendment
- which was passed by the state parliament two decades ago, but was never
sent to a president for approval.
The measures include a ban on the slaughter of
bulls and bullocks, hitherto legal with a vet's certificate, although it
will still be legal to slaughter buffalo.
'Dream
come true'
Maharashtra's Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
tweeted his thanks to the president, saying "our dream of ban on cow
slaughter becomes a reality now".
The ban did not go unnoticed and led to a
debate on the social media with #BeefBan top-trending on India's twitter.
Right-wing Hindu groups in India have long
demanded a complete ban on the slaughter of all cattle, citing religious
scriptures.
The main players in the beef industry are
Muslims, the country's largest religious minority, who make up some 13
percent of India's 1.25 billion population.
Maharashtra state is ruled by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance with
the far-right Shiv Sena party.
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