If BJP cares for Kashmiris they should remove beef ban
With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sharing power in Jammu and Kashmir, it is for the first time that people in the state are revisiting the past - the time when the minority ruled over the majority.
On September 9, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court banned the sale of beef in the state. The decision created an uproar in the Valley. The Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley vociferously protested the ban. If reports are to be believed, on September 14, a total of 123 cows were slaughtered in defiance against the high court ruling in Srinagar city alone.
This defiance was more against New Delhi than against the court's ruling.
Firebrand woman separatist leader Asiya Andrabi, who advocates Kashmiris accession to Pakistan, slaughtered a cow on the same day that the court issued the order. The video was circulated within minutes on WhatsApp.
Senior Hurriyat leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah and legislator Engineer Rashid followed the trial.
Many Kashmiris believe that the high court ruling is a design of the BJP government to implement its "Hindutva agenda" in Kashmir. The most popular Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, who has upped the ante against the ban, has said, "The ban is the direct interference in religious affairs of the majority population (Muslims) and the court ruling nothing but a part of the Hindutva project."
A ban on the sale of beef has been imposed by some state governments in India as well. But the bone of contention for the government remains Jammu and Kashmir.
Brief history of beef ban in J&K
According to some historians, the beef ban was first imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in 1819 by the Sikh rulers. According to a ruling documented under Section 298 of Ranbir Penal Code, cow slaughter was banned during Maharaja's time in J&K. The ban was strongly implemented during the Dogra regime. The law was strictly imposed especially in Srinagar, because of the Muslim majority here.
It is ironical that even after the advent of so-called Muslim state government in Jammu and Kashmir after 1947, the state government failed to change or challenge the ban implemented by the oppressive regimes of the past.
Kashmiris have now locked horns over the beef ban. Reports say that since 1947, no one from Kashmir has been punished for slaughtering a cow. But, it has also been reported that the contentious provisions of Ranbir Penal Code are frequently used in Jammu province.
Newspaper reports reveal that in last six years, 28 FIRs were registered in Jammu province under the sections of Ranbir Penal Code that criminalise slaughtering of bovine animals in the state. The controversial law, says the report, is being regularly used mostly in Muslim-majority districts.
The report revealed that since 2009, three FIRs each were lodged in Doda and Ramban under the law, two in Udhampur, four in Reasi, nine in Rajouri, three in Kishtwar, one in Jammu and five in Kathua district.
Present scenario
The beef ban has added one more problem to the other political and administrative complications faced by chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This is now a major hurdle faced by the already controversial government of the state. As things stand, the court has issued notice to the government to file response within a week. According to legal experts, the government can take the legislature route to amend the existing law to revoke the ban on cow slaughter, and set aside the high court ruling. However, the government has done nothing in this regard.
The tight-lipped chief minister, who does not talk much and is perceived as a good listener, has dealt with this controversy like the previous ones - by keeping a total silence on the subject. However, Peoples Democratic Party's coalition partner BJP has made it amply clear that they are against revoking the beef ban.
The BJP state spokesperson Balbir Ram Rattan has said that, "Our party has made it clear that it honours the high court order. Any move to lift it will be opposed vigorously as the issue is directly related to the religious sentiments of the Hindu community."
Meanwhile, the grand old opposition party of Jammu and Kashmir - the National Conference - also the Congress and fierce independent MLA Engineer Rashid are putting pressure on the PDP-led coalition government to promulgate the ordinance before Eid-ul-Azha to end the ban.
Engineer Rashid has also moved a separate bill seeking lifting of ban on slaughtering bovine animals.
The National Conference and the Congress, which are now raising a hue and cry for abrogation of sections 298A to 298D of the Ranbir Penal Code, have no claim to this moral high ground. Both parties did nothing when they were in power in Jammu and Kashmir.
Both the NC and Congress have ruled over Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir for the last 65 years. Three generations of the National Conference are to blame for not abrogating these sections. The blame lies more at the door of the NC than the Congress, since it is a regional party that has ruled more than the Congress.
Independent MLA Engineer Rashid's protests may also not have the desired effect.
Others who are protesting the beef ban include the unpredictable Hurriyat. The Hurriyat has now been provided with another platform to show their acumen and leadership, which they failed to, during the mass uprising of year 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Meanwhile, the beef ban has already hit the state's traders who deal in raw skin and hide. The Srinagar-based suppliers of raw skin and hide have correctly stated said that the imposition of ban will hit their trade. Nawakadal in Srinagar has traditionally been the hub of the Valley's dealers of raw skin and hide.
The dealers said the ban would cost them a collective 30,000 bovine hides a month and the revenue generated from it. Other economic and social consequences of the ban will be revealed in the coming weeks and months.
Following the high court of September 9, Kashmir has been witnessing a series of protests, with calls for decriminalising sale of beef getting louder. Pressure is also mounting on the state government to decide on the issue that has snowballed into a major controversy.
In a place where even a local protest on an issue like water shortage takes the shape of an "Azadi" uprising, the beef ban can prove to be a catalyst for the already alienated population of Kashmir. Fortunately, no life has been lost in the protests that have taken place so far over this issue.
If India wants to win the hearts and minds of Kashmiris, then keeping in view the popular sentiments of the Valley, it must revoke the obsolete Dogra regime laws from the state. Instead of playing foul, BJP should come forward to help and resolve the issue for the common good of Kashmiris. This will be in the spirit of the "agenda of alliance" of the PDP and BJP, and the common long-term good of the state.