Following Kerala's reaction against the Centre's decision issuing a ban on sale of cows for slaughter in India, students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras held a beef festival on the campus late on Sunday night.
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A group of 70-80 students ate beef curry and bread to mark their protest against the Centre's order imposing an indirect beef ban. According to the Hindustan Times, Abhinav Surya, a final year student said "It is a democratic right of ours to have a choice of food."
Surya added that the agitation was not a pre-planned one but anybody who was against the Centre's decision attended the beef fest. Though the college did not take any action against the students, they were ridiculed on social media.
"There has been condemnation of our protest by some right-wing student body representatives. Some facebook posts have derided us and our freedom to choose what we eat," said Abhinav.
Earlier on May 27, Students' Federation of India (SFI) conducted a similar protest in Kerala by eating beef outside University College, Trivandrum. In other parts of Kerala, Youth Congress units organised beef fests. The cadres have cooked and distributed the meat dish to the people.
Harsha Vardhan, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on Friday ordered that the ministry notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 to ensure that the sale of cattle was not meant for slaughter purposes.
"Aim of the rules is very specific. It is only to regulate the animal market and the sale of cattle in these markets, and ensuring welfare of cattle dealt in market. And the rule provides for a strict animal monitoring committee and an animal market committee at the local level," said Vardhan.
He has said the seller and buyer both have to ensure that the cattle is not being bought or sold in the market for slaughter purposes.
"An undertaking to this effect has to be given to the member secretary of the animal market committee from the seller as well as the buyer," Vardhan added.
As per the notification cattle is defined as "bulls, bullocks, cows, buffalos, steers, heifers and calves and camels".
