The capital of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, is grappling with major protests by the right wing alongside the opposition Congress allegedly over the slaughter of cows at a slaughterhouse in Bhopal.
The sequence of the event started on December 17 as the activists of saffron outfits, including that of Sanskriti Bachao Manch and Hindu Utsav Samiti, intervened a truck that carried over 25 tonnes of meat near the state police headquarters in Jahangirabad.
Although a Bhopal Municipal Corporation doctor, Beni Prasad Gaur, initially certified the seized consignment as buffalo meat, forensic tests conducted at the Veterinary College laboratory in Mathura later established that it was beef, the slaughter and sale of which is banned and carries severe penalties in Madhya Pradesh.
Following this, Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said that it has been directed to effectively suspend Doctor Beni Prasad Gaur.
Large-scale protests have swept Bhopal, as right-wing Hindu groups and Congress activists alike allege that the BJP government is complicit in cow slaughter and the illicit trade of beef.
“Our sentiments have been hurt. We will not tolerate this. A memorandum is being submitted to the CM, demanding action,” said Bhanu Hindu, Jai Maa Bhavani Hindu Organisation.
“We’ve been continuously trying to bring the matter to everyone’s notice since December, but it has fallen on deaf ears. Still, if no action is initiated, we will be forced to take strong action,” the BMC’s leader of opposition (LoP), S. Zaki, said.
“No one needs to resign. Strict action is being ensured. No one will be spared in cases of beef or cow slaughter. Whether it’s a trader or an officer, if anyone is found guilty, the strictest possible action will be taken. The Chief Minister, Dr. Mohan Yadav, has given clear and strict instructions on this matter,” the BMC chairman and BJP leader Kishan Suryavanshi said.
