At a time when Muslims are gearing up to celebrate Eid-ul Adha, the Gujarat government is invoking controversies about beef and putting all its effort to ban beef.
After banning beef and meat, Now ‘Gochar Vikas Board’ claimed that Muslims’ holy book Quran says eating cow’s meat is not good for health.
As per media reports, the Gujarat government billboards carry a pictures of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and the Islamic symbol of the crescent moon and star with a message claiming to be a verse from the Quran that says beef is bad for health.
The billboard writes “Akramul Bakra Fainaha Saiyedul Bahaima” claiming as verse of the Quran and translated it as “Show respect to cows as it is the leader of all bovines. Its milk, ghee and butter have therapeutic properties and its meat is the cause of several diseases’’.
When asked about the source of the verse, Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board chairman Dr Vallabhbhai Kathiria, a former Union Minister, said: “I got the verse and its translation from a 20-page booklet in Hindi and Gujarati”. He said the booklet was at his home in Rajkot and he could not recall the name of its author and publisher.
Meanwhile, Mufti Ahmed Devlavi, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said there is no such verse in the Quran. “I have never come across such a verse in the Holy Quran. It is a BJP agenda to mislead Muslims”, he said. “As far as I know, the Holy Quran does not say anything of this sort”, he said.
Sahid Siddiqui, former Member of Parliament, rubbished the claims of the Gujarat Government board, calling beef bad for health.
He also alleged that Gujarat Government is diverting people’s attention from important issues and focusing on matters like banning beef in the state.
RJD leader Manoj Jha slammed the government, saying it must not have read ‘Quran’, ‘Bible’ or ‘The Gita’ and that is why it is banning beef from the state.