Butchering the Illegal Meat Industry in India: UP Meat-Bandi

The Yogi Adityanath government has been in action since its ascension. The crackdown on illegal meat butchers is what has captured the attention of the state now. Many vendors of the meat industry went on an indefinite strike. Their demand was an alternate system or continuation of the existent system in the meat industry. The meat industry in India is a huge industry with UP alone catering to 19% of the total output of the country. Then how did this state get affected because of the crackdown?

The problem is the proliferation of the illegal vendors. This is a nexus that is created in the society because of the greed of the government-run meat processing centers. Majority of the government-run meat centers in UP export the meat to various other countries at a very low price. This gives rise to the demand of the meat and the illegal butchers utilize this opportunity. The majority of the local suppliers supply the meat at a low cost to restaurants and hotels and street vendors. The street vendors are ready to pay the low price that the vendor offers as this will only increase their profits.

But a complete stop on this industry is illogical. The government needs to formulate strict guidelines for dealing with illegal butcher shops and help people who are willing to get a license. The problem is not the people who are just willing to make a living, rather the people who are trying to make profits by taking advantage of the system. Also the government-run processing centers must cater to the local requirements first before exporting the produce. 

This is important in a way even for vegetarians because a rise in illegal butcheries means rise in the demand for cattle. This also means less fodder per unit of cattle. And this means very less fodder for milch cattle. This will result in low milk production. There is also the matter of illegal export of cattle from India to Bangladesh which hampers the supply in the country.  Moreover the condition of the cattle at these illegal meat-processing centers is not acceptable according to ethical code of butchering an animal. Lack of proper equipment and untrained personnel at these centers also results in an unhygienic meat produce.

Moreover, this is not just a matter of an industry’s existence but it is also the matter of following the rule of law. The same case in any other country like the USA or any Middle Eastern Gulf country would never even hit the headlines of the next day’s newspaper. The people will never even dare to do anything illegal in a foreign country but the same people don’t care about the law of their own land. This hypocrisy can compete even with that of the politicians in the country who we blame. But we must remember that ‘To err is human’; but to make it right, is human too.

Road Romeos or Acid Throwers, Who’re the Real Culprits

It is not even a week from the time that the UP government started. From the Yogi government is already on its way to prove to the people that it is different from the previous governments of UP. And some of the notable directives that have been brought into force are quite interesting. One among them is ban on tobacco and gutkha products and paan products inside government buildings. And it doesn’t end there. The police has taken up a task of punishing road romeos. The initiative was taken up and many videos showing the punishing techniques have been uploaded on Youtube. In fact even national TV celebrated it by showing these funny punishments. 

The police could easily raise their collars for these initiatives, but hold on this is no Rowdy Rathore moment for them. These videos were a testament that women will not be tolerating any attacks on their freedom anymore, but just by punishing few teenagers is not going to end this madness. The real crime that we are talking about is acid attack.

Not soon after these videos started to show on headlines, than the news of an acid attack in Meerut came up. Now what is the use of punishing a few teenagers in one lane when a girl is being attacked by a scorned lover just a lane away. These punishments don’t serve the basic purpose of making the criminal feel guilty. The acid throwers are the culprits who don’t like when their ego is hurt. And when it is hurt they turn into a snake, spitting venom on its enemies. And then there is a phone call from ‘above’ and they are let loose because they happened to be the family or family-like of the police.

The problem is that the criminal system makes discrimination between a person who is not the family of a policeman and one who is. They are tried by different laws apparently and that makes all the unfair advantage. And since the perpetrators know they are going to get away with it they enjoy the thrill again and again.

I think it might be a good time if Yogi Adityanath thinks about computerizing the entire law system as such and eliminates all humans from it. Perhaps that is the only solution for the system to be crack-proof. Because time and again these things happen and then we have some minister sitting on his chair and explaining that it was the girl’s fault. And then we will have women’s rights commission gaining publicity on the issue by dragging the poor girl in and out of government offices. Or perhaps there should be a separate commission for handling this all together, like a Molestation and Allied Offences Redressal Commission.

The system will never change itself, it will only try to add a new body in the government and that is the end of it. In the evening news, the so called thinkers and experts will be called on a news channel and India will be reminded of its heritage and diverse culture and then asked to adjust for everybody’s survival.

Possibly one way to deal with it might be allowing the girl/woman and a group of women of the same age and lifestyle to have a prime say in the case proceeding. The group could say where they feel the system is failing and particularly the girl can say if she is satisfied with the process. A lawyer from the Higher Court can make sure that the girl is not influenced and in a matter of 10 days the process should be finished.

There are many alternatives to think about and the sky is the limit for one who thinks. But when we see our history the Nanavati case reminds us that even if the system shows itself to be impregnable our own instincts betray us. Maybe we need introspection whether we are the real culprits or the acid-throwers. Perhaps imagine ourselves walking down the street and have somebody throw acid on our face. But the burn will not be real in this case.

Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri-Masjid- The Unending Enigma of Ayodhya

The Globe Theater in London might be famous for Shakespeare’s plays, but it can never surpass the Babri-Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi drama. The case started getting its eyeballs when the mosque was demolished on December 6 1992. And since then it took a dark turn bringing in violence in the heroic scene. Later on a riot ensued, killing nearly 2000 people across the country. But that will not be the end of it. The successors of these riots continued their battle into courts, until the court gave a judgment of division of the land into 3 parts in 2010.

But still the lure of ultimate victory made the parties to disagree. The Jain and Buddhist sects also joined the fight claiming their cultural history on the land and that brought new parties into the bi-party dispute. The enigma still continues to haunt people’s dreams in Ayodhya.

But the Ayodhya issue is not something that has ever remained calm. It was tumultuous then as it is now. The difference lies in that the British were just diplomatic in their approach and much better in suppression of conflict. There have been various accounts of the mosque been built on earlier structures of temples. Some reports and historical records suggest the existence of a Hindu temple before 18^th century. Some claim that there was Jain temple built before 11^th century. Other reports also state a Buddhist vihara existed at that place once. But these claims are all substantiated by equally compelling reports. How can all claims be true? 

But the most important coincidence is that this looks exactly like the problem with the city of Jerusalem and how it is divided between various claims. Some people might say that since the Jerusalem dispute has not been resolved, how can Ayodhya dispute be resolved? And now let us start dating exactly when this dispute had begun. Possibly it might be the 16^th century or 10^th century. And this makes it about 500 to 1000 years old. And we claim that we are one of the oldest civilizations on the planet of the earth. Why then did the knowledge of so many years not help us in resolving this issue? Entire generations lost just so that people can have their ego sated and violence committed.

This is not a new scene in the Indian scenario, where anything can be turned into a business. Be it politics, religion, science or archeology. These themes have always been used to drive the unsuspecting public into mobs, while the owners of such propaganda sit watching the drama unfold somewhere else. Just a simple non-cooperation from the people can solve this issue. The people must not show interest even in the minutest way possible in any development over this issue. The case would then be solved within no time.

But this scheme would also require the media and the politicians to stop raking up the issue for publicity and political stints. Or else Ayodhya will forever be remembered as the place of perennial battle like the wall of Jerusalem. On the brighter side this does bring publicity to the place as such and brings tourists from all over the world. Well won’t that be a business everyone is interested in. Local traders and traditional artisans can try their luck at making a fortune during festivals.