Slaughterhouse ban: Bihar, Jharkhand follow UP, protests arise in Maharashtra, Karnataka

In the wake of newly-appointed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bid to clamp down on illegal slaughterhouses, several states, including as many as five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states have followed in for the closure of illegal abattoirs across the country.

Even as the Jharkhand Government earlier last week issued an order for closure of all illegal slaughterhouses in the state within 72 hours, the Gujarat State Assembly on Friday amended its Cow Protection Law introducing a life term for those slaughtering the animal.

Seven illegal slaughterhouses were sealed in Bihar's Rohtas district after the Patna High Court directed them be sealed within six weeks.

Various cow protection organisations from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have also started demanding for the closure of various meat shops in the respective states.

The Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad activists have also been asking for an increase in the punishment for cow slaughter to life term in the Maharashtra assembly replicating the Gujarat law.

In Karnataka too, the Gau Samrakshana Prakoshta and Karnataka Federation of Gaushaalas reportedly have demanded 1,700 meat shops in the city be closed down as they are unauthorised.

The Jharkhand government's decision came close on the heels of a demand by right wing organisations including the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), the Bajrang Dal and the Jharkhand Gau Raksha Dal, for a blanket ban on slaughter houses.

Jharkhand Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh had also written a letter to Chief Minister Raghubar Das appealing to shut down the illegal slaughter houses.

Earlier, the Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act of 2011 had a seven-year sentence and Rs. 50,000-fine levied for those found guilty of slaughtering a cow or transporting beef.