Ranchi, April 24: The Munda government, which is the first state in eastern India to ban cow slaughter, has backed its decision on traditional and practical grounds.
Though the process was initiated much earlier, the decision was made public only yesterday through a full-page advertisement published in newspapers, where chief minister Arjun Munda formally announced the ban.
Jharkhand Bovine Animals (Cow) Slaughter Prohibition Act, 2005, was duly made official on February 20, while the Cabinet approved the bill in July last year and the Jharkhand Assembly passed it in the same month.
But it took the state about four months in getting the gubernatorial nod, which the Raj Bhavan gave in November 2005.
Speaking to The Telegraph about the exigency of the Act, chief minister Arjun Munda said: ?In Indian tradition, cows are venerated. Our tradition calls for their rearing and protection by the people. The scriptures exhorted each family to rear them and protect them as their family members.?
?Now with the Act in place, we can ensure their safety with the rule of law. In addition to the cultural aspect attached, there?s also an economic aspect to it. It is also for their agricultural value they are given so much importance,? he added.
He also spoke about the usefulness of cows in organic farming, towards which the world was fast turning.
?It is all written in the Act. I have already issued instructions for the proper dissemination of the copies of the Act to different levels of the state?s law and order machinery,? he said, when asked as to how the state planned to check illegal transportation and slaughter of cows.
Social organisations and political parties like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have welcomed the move. Its state general secretary Pramod Kumar Mishra said: ?We had been demanding such a law for a long time.?
BJP state president Yadunath Pandey also welcomed the Act, saying: ?The Jharkhand state has set a noble example. Now let the other states also move in the same direction.?
According to Pandey, besides Jharkhand, some other BJP-ruled states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have also banned cow slaughter.
