India’s main Hindu nationalist party says it plans to clamp down on beef exports if it takes power after general elections that end today, threatening supplies from one of the world’s biggest shippers of the meat.
Surprisingly in a country where so many view cows as sacred, India has been poised to become the No. 1 beef exporting nation, supplying markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Egypt.
Although most of that is from buffalo, which are not worshiped by Hindus, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to curb exports that jar with the country’s vegetarian tradition and to bolster the availability of animals reared to work on farms and for milk.
Photo: Reuters
A drop in Indian exports could buoy global cattle prices that have come off record peaks this year after the US herd was pegged at its lowest in more than six decades.
“If elected, we will crack down on beef exports and we will also review the subsidy the government gives for beef or buffalo meat exports,” BJP vice president Satpal Malik said, who drafted the farm policy section of its election manifesto.
To help beef producers and exporters set up abattoirs, the federal government pays between 50 and 75 percent of the cost of construction.
The BJP manifesto defines the “cow and its progeny” as integral to India’s cultural heritage — appealing to the party’s core constituency of Hindus, who abhor eating beef.
The party has also said it would outlaw cow slaughter in the only two states where it is currently permitted and wants to stamp out illegal abattoirs where meat from cows enters the supply chain.
Voting in the country’s mammoth five-week general election has nearly finished, with polls showing the BJP taking the most seats and ruling Indian National Congress party likely to be ousted after a decade in power. Results are due on Friday.
The possibility of a government drive to reduce exports has spooked beef suppliers at India’s largest abattoir, which slaughters between 300 and 500 cattle a day in Deonar on the outskirts of Mumbai.
“We have voted for Congress, but if the BJP comes to power, we will have to be cautious. They are against our trade and they may come with strict rules,” said supplier Mohammad Shareef Qureshi, sitting on an iron cot in a Deonar tea stall.
Beef production is dominated by Muslims, a minority in the country, and can stir sectarian divisions.
Clashes and altercations between some voluntary groups affiliated with the BJP and people involved in beef production and exports are common.
“The situation would get worse for us under a BJP government,” one truck driver who transports livestock said.
Giving his first name as Guddu, he complained of harassment by Hindu organizations while on the road.
“We do oppose cow slaughter and we do act against it... Why should it be allowed when cow is sacred to millions of Hindus?” said Prakash Sharma, spokesman for a leading Hindu organization.
The next government must ban beef exports, added Sharma, whose group, the Vishva Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, is part of an umbrella group of Hindu nationalist organizations that includes the BJP.
Hindu-Muslim relations have been a key election issue, with critics accusing the BJP prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, of not doing enough to protect Muslims in a spasm of religious violence in Gujarat in 2002 that left at least 1,000 dead.
Modi has denied any wrongdoing and an Indian Supreme Court inquiry found no case to answer.
Some in the industry said that a BJP victory would only have a limited impact on exports. Government figures show these increased to US$3.2 billion in 2012 to last year from US$1.9 billion in 2010 to 2011, boosted by robust demand for cheap, lean Indian halal meat.
India trails only Brazil in beef exports, with a 20 percent market share, according to US Department of Agriculture figures.
“Any major restrictions on exports are unlikely because meat exports are a big source of earning for the government,” said Salim Qureshi, a top supplier of buffalo in the northern town of Aligarh.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS