‘SAVE’ bats for revival of Act banning cow slaughter in J&K

Jammu: The Non-Governmental Organisation, ‘SAVE’ (Save Animals Value Environment) on Thursday advocated for reconstitution of Animal Welfare Board vis-à-vis the revival of the Act banning cow slaughtering in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters, Working President, (SAVE), Devinder Kaur Madaan has has appealed to the Union Government and the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for reconstitution of the Animal Welfare Board to check animal abuse and revive the Act banning cow slaughter that was in vogue prior to abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, repealing the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), Section 298-A of RPC, that protected cows and its progeny from being slaughtered, which now stands repealed.

“After abrogation of Article 370, when this law to ban cow slaughter was repealed, the Chief Secretary of UT was informed about the facts. Thereafter, the then Lt Governor G C Murmu was also apprised that had resulted in increase in smuggling of bovines,” alleged Ms Madaan.

However, she said that when nothing concrete was initiated from the government side, a Writ Petition WP(C) PIL No.18/2020 was filed in the J&K High Court seeking directions to the Government to enact a law prohibiting slaughter of cows and its progeny.

However, the Division Bench of the High Court gave liberty to the petitioner SAVE to approach the government for the purpose of enacting a law in J&K for banning cow slaughter, she added.

The ‘SAVE’ once again wrote to the UT Administration and also the Union Government and is still awaiting a law banning cow slaughter to be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, said the NGO Working President.

She claimed that in the absence of a law in the UT, animals are being transported in oil tankers, pick up vans and vegetable trucks and even in vehicles carrying mineral water.

Animal lovers however, appealed to the government to slap PSA on these smugglers as the money thus generated by them from this illegal trade of bovine smuggling and slaughter are used generally for fanning militancy and subversive activities in the region.

Mr Ravinder Kaul, Vice President ‘SAVE’, observed that the Beef Ban Act, that protected cows and its progeny prior to abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution, also ensured communal harmony amongst all sections of the society.(UNI)