MLA Imtiaz Jaleel alleges discriminatory attitude on the part of Government towards Muslims
BeyondHeadlines Correspondent
Aurangabad: MIM has asked the state chief minister, Devendra Phadnavis, to ban use of alchohol and pork also in the state, as it hurts the religious sentiments of the Muslim community. Consuming alcohol is perhaps more dangerous than eating red meat, the party opined.
“We respect the ban on slaughter of cows as it is considered holy in the Hindu religion. And since the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act of 1976 came into being in the state there was a strict implementation of the law and the Beef traders were following it with sincerity, said MIM MLA from Aurangabad central, Imtiaz Jaleel.
He added that the government has now done grave injustice to the large number of beef traders and the number of allied industries that thrived on it by imposing a ban on slaughter of bulls as well as bullocks. ‘’What plan has the government got to rehabilitate the large number of people working in the beef business and their numbers is in lakhs across the state. The government just cannot snatch away their livelihood and take away their legal means of earning their bread and butter,’’ questioned the MLA.
Reaching out to the state government he said it would be better if the government now takes up the challenge of making Maharashtra, the state with a history of sufis and saints, free from the menace of alcohol. ‘’I am sure no religion allows the use of liquor. And perhaps it’s much more dangerous to consume liquor than eating beef, ‘’ said Mr. Imtiaz, adding that the governments prime duty should be to remove the evils from the society and ‘’I think the country liquor shops which the government promotes by issuing licenses is nothing but telling people to consume poison.’’
Pork is not allowed in the Muslim community so does that mean that the government should now also ban the slaughter of pigs as it hurts the religious sentiments of a community, he questioned.
Jaleel urged the state government to reconsider its decision to ban slaughter of bulls and bullocks as it would leave lakhs of people jobless and reiterated that the ban on cows should continue as ’’ we should respect the religious sentiments of our Hindu brothers.’’
He said his party will fully support any agitation by the Quresh jamat to get the ban lifted. Mr. Imtiaz said that the government should have first done a survey to find how many non Muslims and specially the lower category of Dalits eat Beef as this was the cheapest meat they could afford for a Protein healthy diet. He also warned the government about the possible escalation in rates of mutton and chicken prices and also of vegetables rates shooting up as the demand grows.
