India’s Maharashtra bans beef, introduces jail time for possession
India’s Hindu-majority state of Maharashtra has introduced a strict new law banning beef.
The new law is reportedly so strict that a person having beef in possession could face not only a considerable cash fine, but also up to five years in jail.
Maharashtra has a population of over 110 million people, and its capital, Mumbai, with a population of approximately 18 million is India's largest city, and the main business hub for international commerce and finance in India.
The city’s inhabitants include diverse religious groups, such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and the largest community of Parsis (Zoroastrians) in India, as well as a small population of Jews.
Maharashtra’s beef trade is in the hand of the Muslims.
They say tens of thousands of people work in the beef industry and rely on beef trading to maintain their livelihood. They will become jobless due to the ban.
There are about than 140 million Muslims in India.
However, many Hindus who make up the majority of India’s 1.252 billion population consider cows sacred.
Before Maharashtra’s ban, several other states had already banned the slaughter of cows.
Nonetheless, the latest measures in Maharashtra go further than the previous ones, making the sale or possession of beef an offense punishable by jail or a fine.
The Indian Express newspaper said the measures became law after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to a legal amendment passed by the state parliament two decades ago.
Maharashtra is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance with the far-right Shiv Sena party.
Maharashtra’s chief minister has thanked the president for the ban.
Right-wing Hindu groups in India support a complete ban on the slaughter of all cattle.
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