Before the Kerala Assembly convened for a special one-day session to discuss the Centre’s notification on sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, the MLAs enjoyed beef fry in their breakfast.
Several Kerala legislators headed to the assembly canteen for a quick breakfast, that comprised beef fry, before attending the special session in the Assembly.
Beef fry is a regular item in the Kerala Assembly canteen menu for breakfast. “We ate beef to register our protest. We want to tell the Centre that nobody can tell us what we should eat,” said CPI(M) MLA Pratibha Hari.
Usually, beef is served in the canteen after 11 am but today anticipating the high attendance of MLAs ahead of the special session, the canteen started serving beef since early morning.
“With the session entirely devoted to discussing the beef issue, we brought 10 kg of beef early in the morning. A good number of MLAs have already had beef fry before heading to the Assembly floor,” a canteen employee was quoted by IANS.
IN THE ASSEMBLY
Kerala Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan moved a resolution against the manner in which the Centre went ahead with enforcing the new rule regulating cattle trade last month.
“This new rule is nothing but a blatant violation on the rights of individuals to eat what they wish and want. This new rule will hugely affect the agrarian society of our state and also our country,” Pinayari Vijayan said, who recently wrote to the Centre slamming the notification.
“To take care of a cow that has stopped giving milk, a farmer has to spend Rs 40,000. A huge majority of our society are non-vegetarians and this new law is in no way acceptable to us,” the Chief Minister said.
Former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP-RSS) combine for the “senseless” new law on beef.
“The need of the hour is we should encourage people to produce value-added beef, through which we can earn precious export earnings. The BJP is trying to bring in corporate houses to engage in this business and in no way can we allow our people to suffer,” Achuthanandan said.
“This law should be circumvented by our own new law on this,” he said.
The Kerala Assembly, with a strength of 140 members, may not be able to pass a unanimous resolution against the Centre’s notification as the lone BJP MLA O Rajagopal is unlikely to vote against the new rule.
(Inputs from IANS)