 "Cow")
Prevention of cow slaughter took centre stage again on Sunday as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a nationwide ban on the killing of what many Hindus consider to be a holy animal, or even their "mother".
Bhagwat called on the government to make laws to this effect. While he acknowledged that several states had stringent laws against cow slaughter, chiefly attributing them to dedicated RSS members running these state governments, he said that there was a need for a similar law for the entire country.
While speaking at an event organised to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir in New Delhi, Bhagwat said: "Sampoorna Bharatvarsh me gauvansh hatya band ho, ye hamari ichchha hai (The killing of cows and its progeny should be banned across the entire country, that is our wish)."
Bhagwat's remarks came two days after the Supreme Court asked the Centre and the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra to respond within three weeks on the issue of violence perpetrated across the country by gau rakshaks (cow protection vigilantes) in the name of cow protection. (Read more)
Furthermore, earlier this month, the Gujarat Assembly passed The Gujarat Preservation (Amendment) Bill that seeks to award life imprisonment to anyone found guilty of cow slaughter in the state. People found to be in possession of beef will be fined in the range of Rs 1 to 5 lakh, and imprisoned for seven to ten years. This has also been made a non-bailable offense. (Read more)
With regard to cow slaughter, under the Constitution, a state's legislature has the exclusive powers to legislate on such matters. According to the then Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Sudarshan Bhagat, 24 states and five Union Territories have cow slaughter laws. Only five states and one Union Territory do not have any law on cow slaughter.
States and Union Territories which have some form of law preventing the slaughter of cows, cattle and milch animals
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) West Bengal
3) Tamil Nadu
4) Rajasthan
5) Punjab
6) Puducherry
7) Odisha
8) Maharashtra
9) Manipur*
10) Madhya Pradesh
11) Karnataka
12) Jammu and Kashmir
13) Andhra Pradesh
14) Assam
15) Bihar
16) Daman and Diu
17) Delhi
18) Goa
19) Gujarat
20) Haryana
21) Himachal Pradesh
22) Telangama
23) Chhattisgarh
24) Jharkhand
25) Andaman and Nicobar Island
26) Chandigarh
27) Dadra and Nagar Haveli
28) Sikkim
29) Tripura
States and Union Territories which do not have any laws prohibiting cow slaughter
1) Kerala
2) Meghalaya
3) Nagaland
4) Mizoram
5) Arunachal Pradesh
6) Lakshadweep
