On Saturday, Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, a BJP MLA from Bisfi, Bihar, urged restaurants, hotels, and public spaces in the state to stop selling beef.
Bachaul made these statements while welcoming the Assam government’s recent move to ban beef, the Bihar government needs to do the same while respecting Hindu sensitivities.
“Sentiments of Hindus have been respected in Assam. In Bihar too, crores of people have faith in cows and its slaughter is not proper from any yardstick. Smuggling of bovines like cows and calves is also taking place unhindered and it can stop if Bihar too follows Assam on this matter,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
Bachaul claimed that the sale of beef in Bihar should be subject to the harshest penalties available, citing the harm it does to religious feelings and social conflict.
Their ally, the JD(U), is concerned about this request since it may cause minorities to question the party’s secular credentials.
The proposal was harshly criticized by JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar, who said that it was not on the NDA’s agenda. Himanta Biswa Sarma was accused by him of possessing a “negative mentality.”
“A significant number of Assamese Muslims and Christians eat beef as their primary food. “Now what are they going to do?” he questioned.
Anwar’s criticism of the ruling party was further intensified when he claimed that some BJP leaders in Bihar back the call for a ban on beef sales similar to that in Assam since they have similar views as Sarma’s.
“We have been in power in Bihar for the past 19 years, and we haven’t thought about this problem,” Anwar claimed.
