Bengal's Bakrid Crackdown: Law or Politics? | The Big Eid Showdown

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Every year as Bakrid approaches, cattle markets fill up, traders prepare and families across West Bengal plant for Kurbani. This year is different. The BJP government in Bengal has invoked a law that has been on the books since 1950, but was rarely enforced with many kind of seriousness. Now under fresh directions under the new West Bengal government, a municipal chief and a government wet must jointly assess the animal before any slaughter is permitted. Now according to the 1950 law being cited, the animal must be above 14 years old or must be certified as permanently incapacitated. Now open slaughter in public spaces is now explicitly banned. It covers cows, calves, buffaloos, bulocks, and castrated bulls. On paper, none of this is new. What is new is that a government is actually enforcing it and enforcing it in the weeks immediately before Bakrid for the better part of the last decade and more under TMC reign. These rules existed largely in the name. Now public slaughter during Bakrid was widely reported across several districts of Bengal. Certificate requirements were applied loosely or not at all. Now cattle trade surged every bakrit season with farmers rearing animals specifically for kurbani demand. Now code directives on the slaughter regulations existed but enforcement remained uneven at best. Now, complaints about illegal slaughter surfaced repeatedly, but rarely led to any serious action. The BJP is now pointing to all of this as evidence of TMC's selective governance. TMC and the Muslim community see the sudden enforcement as selective governance of a different kind. Those opposing the crackdown took their case to the Kolkata High Court.

[00:02:01]Their arguments were straightforward.

[00:02:04]Bakr requires the sacrifice of healthy animals. Larger cattle are more economical for bigger families. The state has the legal power to exempt [music] religious sacrifices. Now the notification came suddenly disrupting traders and festival preparations with every little time to respond. Now the court heard all of this and still refused to grant a blanket exemption. It asked the state government to consider a specific Eid exemption and respond within 24 hours. That decision now rests entirely on the Bengal government. The rules stay in place until it decides otherwise. Now, Bengal is not alone in tightening rules this season. Uttar Pradesh has imposed strict regulations on public animal slaughter. Gujarat bans the slaughter of cows and bulls entirely. Rajasthan limits sacrifices largely to goats and sheep. Now, Maharashtra requires veterinary clearance of buffalo slaughter.

[00:03:06]Karnataka has intensified border checks to prevent cattle movement. Bihar has heavily restricted seasonal cattle transport. Now, Telangana has put police on highways to check illegal cattle movement. At the other end, Tamil Nadu legally permits the slaughter of bulls, bulocks and buffaloos. Kerala allows it with municipal health certification. The picture across India is deeply uneven and unevenness is itself part of this political story. Big questions that we are asking [music] right now is the Bengal government enforcing a legitimate law or using a legitimate law to make a political point. The Kolkata High Court has kept the rules in place. But does legal validity automatically settle the question of intent? Now if the law only allows the slaughter of animals over 14 years old or those permanently incapacitated, does this conflict with religious tradition of sacrificing healthy livestock?

[00:04:04]Now to discuss about this we have Ram Prakash Pandi political analyst. We have Moita Chakraati who's also a political analyst and Pratam Ranjan Bos senior journalist West Bengal. Let us in fact go to Ram Prakash Pandi political analyst who joins us. Uh Ram Prakash Pande the big question here is was it a selective reading of the law to enforce it or is it that we are reading too much into an enforcement of the law that did not happen for quite some time.

[00:04:37]At least it is a selective way because the infrastructure is not for the slaughters and other and they are imposing at the time. uh but their facial first build made the infrastructure to do the all the all the things which the law is infrastructure is not in the west according to the law and they are imposing today whe >> so the the other question comes into play that who is responsible for not having that infrastructure in place >> government is responsible India government is responsible If the government is responsible then it had been for decades that this infrastructure was not in place.

[00:05:24]>> I'm not say to state government only.

[00:05:28]>> All central government is responsible.

[00:05:32]>> Interesting enough. We are also in fact joined in by Samya Kapoor who's also joining us on this very crucial debate as we see Mamita Chakraati who's also a political analyst who joins us. Moita how do you read this? Because the big question that has been put over here is that just ahead of Bakrid you have a very important law of 1950 being enforced. It's there the law exists. The question is about enforcement. But then the question is we have uh Mr. Pande in fact pointing out that there is no infrastructure to which you can go ahead with this enforcement. So should we wait for the enforcement to happen only after the infrastructure happens or again does that mean that we have to again delay an enforcement of a law that is was brought up way back in 1950 Mohammed again unmute your uh mic.

[00:06:24]>> Yeah I think I'm audible now.

[00:06:25]>> Yeah.

[00:06:25]>> So for tickets many people in Bengal believe that laws existed only on paper but today something important has happened and changed. The government of West Bengal has decided to strictly enforce the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act of 1950. A law that was passed not by a modern political party but by the state itself nearly 75 years ago. And secondly, I would like to add uh just one. Yeah, Supreme Court has already met its position very clear on this issue.

[00:07:00]In the case of state of West Bengal versus Ashuhi, the West Bengal government had given certain relaxations for cows slaughter during bak. The Supreme Court uh struck that down and clarity said that the cow sacrifice is not an essential religious practice in Islam. Therefore, a state has the constitutional right to continue a ban on claus cow slaughter. Even earlier in the landmark case of Mohammad Hanim Kureshi versus state of Bihar, the Supreme Court observed that while kurbani is important in Islam but sacrificing a cow is definitely not compulsory. So Muslims can perform their kurbani using the other animal as well.

[00:07:39]The court also made it very clear that the cow cow slaughter alone you know the kind the definition is huge. You have bulls, you have bullocks, you have buffaloos both male and female that have been added onto that cattle list. Now it's a huge list that is there. So when you talk about that especially it's not about only about cows as such we are talking about. The question is that if there's a law that says that don't do the sacrifice in a public space agreeable. The question is how when you enforce it do you have the infrastructure to enforce it? See first of all you have to understand one thing when any community you talk about any community you talk about Muslim you talk about Hindu you talk about any other community whenever they're living in a specific country the every community has the right to you know uh to follow the constitution and the law of that country if you go to Saudi Arabia I'm sure you cannot just have the worship publicly you cannot do dura puja publicly you cannot have sati puja publicly but in your private room you can do that but our country is actually trying to protect the cow because there are some other >> law in Saudi Arabia is different let's not go into that the law in Saudi Arabia is different over here there is reasonable restriction that is put through the constitution and that reasonable restrictions we see like for example the cows slaughter act of 1950 which is a reasonable restriction that is being put into place so the law is very different over here there is an element of where it is a love through slaughter they have in fact prescribed the slaughter that you need to get a certification you need uh you know to not to be done in public spaces those things are there that we can look at but anyway we will in fact get Mr. Pratim Ranjan Bos who's a senior journalist uh Mr. Mr. President B, how do you see this? Is this going to be the first controversy that we are going to see from the Suendo Dari government especially by enforcing a law? They are not in fact getting a new law but they enforcing a law.

[00:09:39]>> Uh first of all uh it is not true that the law was not in force.

[00:09:45]uh I I spent my childhood in 1970s and the law was very much in force and even in Kolkata there are certain shops which use only the ve the approved meat. Uh there is a stamp that is put on the uh carcass. So it was there but it was violated and the administration paid a blind eye to that. See there is veterary officers in every district. there is veterary sub officers in the uh subdivisions I think even in the block level. So that put together there is an infrastructure.

[00:10:24]The point is you know some government particularly last 30 40 years. So uh it became rampant. Now before uh coming to that I mean let me tell you where from the whole damn thing is originated. over the last five to seven years uh the slaughter and in the not merely in the open but even in posh housing society became unknown in even in Kolkata I'm talking about Kolkata even in my society it was attempted and it was I mean so I know in fact to my knowledge at least to me and my friends at least five incidents in uh in in in one of these games leave that apart the bigger issue over here is that not about consumption in West Bengal. The part of the booty that you are watching is actually for smuggling in the name of consumption in West Bengal. This is for cattle smuggling to Bangladesh. This is where the whole because I know this because I did my survey on the border on uh cattle smuggling and most of the traders are Hindus. This is to avoid the attention and look it is the Hindu traders who are making maximum noises.

[00:11:36]Now about the disruption. See all disruptions are supposed to be controversial but some disruptions are perhaps necessary because if you accept this leave it this time. So the next time also a situation will emerge because it will be created that leave it this time. I I think it is good that the attention is drawn that the focus is there. So from now onward the bigger issue I think uh people are missing out.

[00:12:04]It is not about cows and goats and etc. It is about food safety and as a child I saw those uh those knobs being implemented but today it's all free for all. So I think I mean from my perspective I'll say a a disruption was necessary. What is important is well if if you have lack of infrastructure this year next year by next year you must have it that's all because Bengales otherwise will have meat and this is not about cow slaughter this is about all meat period >> all right uh we also have with us Sam Kapoor who in fact joins us you have seen how this story has been unfolding throughout the day and interestingly enough there is politics that is being picked up now one group of people would say that you know it is selective politics to highlight the rights of one group over the other. But then you have the new government that's come in and they're saying that hey we are just in fact implementing a law that was already there. We just bringing the provisions of the law. We are asking people to adhere to the provisions of that particular law and therefore it is not an imposition. So is the fact remains is that if we look back as one of our panelists was saying 40 years ago onwards it's not that it was not been implemented it was implemented. It was the non-implementation for a long period that made it a norm and then suddenly when you have those same aspects of that law being implemented it's creating that kind of a disturbance. Is that how should we read this entire issue?

[00:13:37]>> Well uh Bhi is in agreement with all that the panelists have said so far but this is what is panning out in Bengal right now is pretty much an expected lines. They were expecting that when BJP comes to power in Bengal something like this the word destruction as being used Mr. Hi Mr. Pro was the need of free hour. I do agree that as far as the the last senior of uh the TMC government is concerned. They did not enforce this law as rigidly as it ought to be. It almost to say that the cow slaughter was taking place under the government's eye and they turned a blind eye to it. Having said that, this is a double-edged sword.

[00:14:16]As far as Muhammadra's petition is concerned, that is as valid is because there are a lot of people who deal with the cattle farming in Bengal especially uh as far as the bak festival is concerned. It comes little to prematurely because they are all prepared. They are there with the cattle far the cows over there. How is the government trying to make an intervention and ensure that they do not suffer losses? Of course, it's paramount to protect the cows to protect the cattle and carry out the entire procedure as per the set norms. But there are issues pertaining to getting the certification from the vets. There are several places where the vets are not giving certificate. Now this is a new government work. You need to understand there are new systems being put in place. The police, the vets, the systems in are all trying to work in tandem. They are all going through a process of change and at the same time trying to adapt to new changes and new rules.

[00:15:10]Bakri comes at this sensitive moment. It is a festival that is uh going to be you know many people hold it close to their hearts in Bengal and at other places also in the world but it cannot be carried out where the sentiment religious sentiment of other community and religion is also being heard. That need to be factored in as well which I do not feel was happening under the MTA's government. But as far as enforcement of the slaughter laws are concerned this was the need of the hour.

[00:15:37]It has been carried out but the government will have to now intervene to ensure that as far as the cattle farming is concerned those people who have come from far and wide in Bengal with their cattle whether it is bullocks whether it is bulls whether it is ox or any other such cattle not just the cow they ought to be compensated well there shouldn't be these bottlenecks and hiccups as far as getting certification the fitness certificate for the slaughter is concerned these are the loopholes that needs to be ironed out the finetuning is what we're talking about right which may pose hindrances which may lead to friction and something or the other can possibly snowball because it all is eventually surrounding a religious uh festival. I do agree with our panelist Mumita also who has said that there is no compulsion there is no uh you know there it's not mandatory to sacrifice a cow you can do it with the other animals as well but it's almost to say that to each their own. So far that has been the rule and the norm in Bengal. But now things ought to change with the new government.

[00:16:40]>> Well, interestingly enough, we are also getting information that a large number of leaders within uh the Muslim community have also said that you need not go with the cattle. You can in fact go with the other animals that are ille could be sheep or goat. But then interestingly enough, Mamita Chakroi Sam has raised a very important question over here. The question is about there is something which I would term right now as the cattle economics. Now when we talk about the cattle economics it works in two ways. One as our panelist M Pratim Ranjin Bos had said there is a smuggling angle to it where cattle is smuggled across the border and you have that cattle made available here. Now you also have the local cattle that has been raised especially only for this particular season of that festivity which they know is going to give them fetch you a good amount of money in the market. Now that is the economics that is aligned with it. Now this economics wouldn't have grown if the law had been in place for a very long time. But this economics has grown and you have a lot of people who would want to get rid of their aging cattle or through the process. But now since the process is it lined out, it's going to be very difficult for them to get it you know easily sold in the market and then taken and things like that. It's going to be difficult to go by the process as of now. This is surely going to hit the people who have been looking at this cattle economics and that the farmers are also part of it. There are dairy farmers who are part of this cattle economics that we would in fact talk. So how do you in fact address the cattle economics part of it at the same time the religious sensitivity and at the same time trying to implement a law.

[00:18:21]It's going to be a difficult uh road to travel.

[00:18:26]Well uh your voice were breaking so I couldn't uh hear you properly but as far as my concern whatever I could understand on that basis I would like to give you the answer. say this this is not merely about the religion or sentiment it's about the rule of law which is regulated governance agricultural economics and civil order and uh the religious thing is also there we what I was already talking about because when a community is residing in a particular country there has to follow the rule of law and the constitution whereas our constitution is clearly saying the article 48 and article 25 is clearly talking about that and also this act in West Bengal clearly states that no kettle can be slaughtered without the official certification confirming that the animal is either above 14 years of age or permanently unfit for work or breeding. So violation violations can definitely attract up to 6 months of imprisonment, fines and recognition uh sorry criminal action. So what makes this development politically significant is Bengal is finally witnessing the transition of selective enforcement to institutional information. So I would like to tell you the kettle smuggling this is definitely not new to this uh place Bengal and in India but now it's really good to see that the new government in Bengal they are acting hard uh right now I mean that's all I can say and also we have seen the Chernobyl government their corruption their scam they were definitely not working in favor to this and the new government has actually started working to this and for years the illegal kettle trade and unregulated slaughter networks were treated as untouchable ecosystem.

[00:20:07]So now the state administration is signaling that the legality will no longer be optional. So let us remember something intellectually very important here. This is not the creation of a new ideology given law. This is the enforcement of an already existing constitutional and legislative framework. In other words, the debate today is not between the freedom and restriction. This is between the lawlessness and the legal accountability. And I'm glad to see that the new government has taken action in court.

[00:20:36]>> Well, uh we also have Ram Pashar. I wanted to ask that question to you. It's going to be a tight uh rope walk for the new government trying to balance all this together, implementation of the law, looking into the cattle economics that we would say the smuggled cattle that's coming in and at the same time minority rights. It's going to be quite a difficult situation uh to do to reach this point. But the question is that for decades why wasn't it enforced?

[00:21:00]Actually this government new government is hiding the real problem of the problem to to impose all the things actually that is the now the peoples of the India is facing lot of problems unemployment problems height of the prices of the commodities but the government has not worked for them now the government is fighting this unsuccess No, but the question is if someone would have to >> someone will have to start implementing the law somewhere they'll have to start implementing the law. So they have decided to start to implement the law.

[00:21:43]It is not that it was not there on paper. The question is they are enforcing the already their provisions. It's not that something new has been brought. They just enforcing what is there. I agree with your point that suddenly when you bring in something like this and infrastructure, do you have enough people to certify? All those questions come into play and therefore it's not going to happen. But the fact remains is that the implementation has to start somewhere and the process has started but has it been started with trying being prepared for it is the question.

[00:22:13]>> It is totally too early.

[00:22:16]We have to get time for that where the veterary doctor is not available that the city.

[00:22:22]>> But why why was this law in suspended animation for such a long time?

[00:22:32]That is the lack of the government.

[00:22:35]Never government has looked on that matter.

[00:22:41]In fact is going on going on >> right we'll in fact prat go I want to ask this question to you also that why was this law under suspended animation for such a long time it was if it was in enforcement till 1970s it it's in suspended animation for such a long time and therefore it people must have thought that it was the norm and uh it was in fact completely violated nobody was questioning it so now when you go try to enforce it of course you would see some kind of reactions you have political reactions already come in but everyone before this government is also responsible for keeping this under suspended animation. This government has decided to bring it out from suspended animation and trying to put a procedure to it which already exists. They've not brought something new in that. So why was this in suspended animation for such a long time?

[00:23:26]Uh two points first of all the market is not full. I know very well I inquired I kept track of two cattle markets in the vicinity of Kolkata. uh there was very little trade for last one and a half months which means that the market was aware that something can happen in that case uh they must not stock uh more than uh you know they were ready for the eventuality. So a lot of human cry that you hear is actually created by some traders who have invested or or bet for it. Uh leave that apart. your question about why this law was kept in suspended animation. Very unfortunately uh beginning 1990 the left started investing in uh Muslim port bank and slowly uh as the government the anti-establishment increased and they entered into this management uh etc. Slowly and unfortunately we entered a situation where uh you know one community is most engaged with this trade. uh so uh so it was uh it was very unfortunate that we allowed a degree of lawlessness >> but uh Pratim it's not only one community you yourself have told me that there are a lot of Hindu traders who are involved in this we know that farmers Hindu farmers were also you know waiting for this so it's not that just one community it the suspended animation led to a huge illegal market to be formed or an illegal network to be formed and it was going on fine for almost 40 45 years suddenly when the existing law is being put into place. We can't say that you know one community is involved. Everyone is involved and everyone was benefiting.

[00:25:01]There are people who are smuggling also benefiting from this. So it's not just one community that was involved in this.

[00:25:06]>> No no no no. I I I think uh I my wordings were wrong.

[00:25:10]>> All right.

[00:25:11]>> When you it comes to trading right in trading particularly the smuggling informal trade or smuggling to Bangladesh it is all Hindu traders for a very simple reason. You can it is understandable why the Hindu traders are there. In fact most of the trading takes place the crossber trade that takes place smuggling is through the Hindu villages 100% Hindu villages. So that is to avoid the uh glaring eyes of law.

[00:25:39]That is one side of the story. But what happened was also one must understand that uh there were a huge illegal economy was created between India and Bangladesh which in 2010 amounted to as big as $4 billion and of which cattle trade was the bulk of it. Now back to the you know the government has been trying to carve it because of various other issues because it brings lot of other illegalities into that apart in Kolkata in when it comes to consumption particularly let's focus on beef now this has become a very big issue this was politicized and you know particularly last 15 years though it has been everywhere uh some at least one leftist leader made a show of it by eating in beef and and you know it was politicized that created the whole problem. So now when you are you know imposing a card which in my opinion is for food safety and which I saw being implemented in the past and which was to some extent was in implementation in good shops. Some good shops were selling only certified.

[00:26:51]So then you know the informal or the illegal economy became so big that it has started complaining. I think most of the issue is that >> so basically we need to put an idea across this illegal economy is what you're trying to say. But uh Sam Kapoor let me get you into this. When it comes to cattle slaughter laws we have seen how it is across the country. It is sometimes very stringent in certain places. The law is much more extensive.

[00:27:19]In certain states it's not that extensive. In certain states it doesn't even exist when it comes to slaughter.

[00:27:24]It's only about ensuring that it is a proper certified meat that is in fact put onto the table. So it's totally different across this country as such.

[00:27:36]Each state has different nature or a different uh pressure when it comes to applying the cattle slaughter laws. So it's not a uniform law that we are looking most of the it's within the state law system that we in fact see how the cattle laws are being prepared. So it is completely not uniform when we talk about this and similarly is the case but interesting part of this if the scattle slaughter law of 1950 of course it would have been brought in by the congress then the congress party then and then of course the left uh continued with it and so this law has been there and therefore it had been stringent then itself when it comes to cattle slaughter uh when we look into it but why is it that in this entire country we have different ways of implementing it in certain places it's a total curb in certain places it's not a curb as is being specified in certain places it's partially a curb so therefore there is no uniformity to this complete application itself even the party that has taken or rather has become the ruling party in Bengal the BJP does not have a uniform application when it comes to the rest of the country as well so there is more understanding required to this complexity of the cattle slaughter laws itself >> absolutely vis Please uh I might say something that will draw the eye or I might be facing flack for saying this but we are not living in a homogeneous country. It is a heterogenous population. Everybody has their own eating habits. So given the population of a given state, if there are bee eaters, if there are meat eaters, they shouldn't be frowned upon. That is the worry of the people over there in Bengal right now that is there going to be animosity? Is there going to be isolation of those who are beef eaters even if they are legally uh getting it from those places that are mandated with uh all rules being followed? How how is one to try and uh uh you know identify that one from one against the other?

[00:29:33]That is one aspect of it as far as illegal slaughter is concerned or where we talking about the laws being enforced in this particular case which is a welcome move. The other aspect is looking into your plate, looking into your bowl. Why should a person not be allowed to choose what they want to eat provided it is being procured from the most legit way. Having said that, if the animal uh smuggling has been taking place, if the cattle smuggling has been taking place, if the Hindu traders are involved as Mr. Patel has said, which I agree, then it is all going across the border. Who is guarding the border? The BSF is guarding the border. Are we trying to say that the central government was not in the know of it?

[00:30:13]These are threepointed questions. You know, while we are going to be pinning the blame on the Madabali government to say that the entire beef slaughter uh law was kept in abain because it was almost in connivance because it was suiting certain western interest groups within the TMC government. But question would also be raised about why did the central government then not try to intervene in this particular case if they knew there were cattle smuggling taking place.

[00:30:36]>> Right. Well, with that I will be slipping into a short break. Thank you Samir as well as our panelists Pratim Ranjan Bose Mohammed Chakraati as well as Ra Prakash Pande for in fact giving us a complete idea about this entire uh law that is coming into place and how it could have an impact and the complexities associated with that. With that we slip into a short break but don't go anywhere. We will look at another controversy and this time it's coming from Tamal.