Guwahati: A day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a ban on consumption of beef, former Congress MP Abdul Khaleque termed the decision a violation of the Constitutional rights of citizens.
"How can the Chief Minister's announcement become a law instantly? The Chief Minister made an announcement yesterday about a ban on public consumption of beef. But this cannot become a law immediately as there is a process to implement it in the state. The Chief Minister had said that no hotel and restaurant can serve beef from yesterday. There has to be either an Act or an Ordinance to implement the Cabinet decision," Khaleque said adding that Sarma's announcement has violated people's Constitutional rights.
"Our Constitution has given us certain rights to decide on what we eat and what we wear. No government can dictate us on these issues where the Constitutional rights are involved," Khaleque added.
He accused BJP of doing politics over issues like beef and Hijab, asserting that everyone has right over choice of food and outfit.
What the law says:
Senior advocate Shantanu Barthakur of Assam explained that the question is not if it is beef or goat meat but whether the state has the right to impose an absolute ban on peoples' food habits.
"The Constitution has not given the right to a state to impose an absolute ban on people's food habits. As per the Constitution, the food habits, dress and work fall under the right to privacy. The Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy Vs Indian government case, clearly mentioned about right to live under Right to Privacy (Article 21). If that is to be believed, the Assam government's decision is not at par with Constitutional rights," Barthakur said.
The senior advocate further claimed that apart from Muslims, a section of the Dalits in Maharashtra also consume beef. "In Kerala also beef is accepted as food. The state government can only impose a ban on food which is harmful, or consumption of which leads to disease," he said.
"IT is different if we want to be like Bangladesh or Pakistan. But till India is a democratic and secular country, this decision is not acceptable. It is not justified for a government to impose a ban on food after some controversy," he said.
Is beef consumption illegal in Assam?
Although consumption of beef is not illegal in Assam, the BJP led government in the state had in 2021 enacted the Assam Cattle Preservation Act of 2021 which regulates the transportation, and slaughter of all cattle, and sale of beef and beef products in the state.
The Act, which sought to stop illegal cattle smuggling to Bangladesh, allows slaughter of other cattle (bulls, bullocks and buffaloes) if it is over 14 years of age or has become permanently incapacitated due to injury or deformity. It also restricts sale of beef except at permitted locations and in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are in majority and within a five-km radius of the religious places of these communities.
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