MANGALORE: Braving the rain, more than 300 people affiliated to various organisations took out a rally and held a public meeting to protest against the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2010 in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Friday.

Under the banner of “Movement against the Anti-Cow Slaughter and Protection of Cattle Bill”, the protestors raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party Government for seeking to “introduce an anti-farmer, anti- minority, anti-Dalit and undemocratic Bill”.

Member of the Meat Merchants' Association, Mangalore, Ali Hassan said that the government had “no right to dictate what food we can or cannot eat”.

“There are five classes of people, who are dependent on cows — those who domesticate cows, sellers, buyers, suppliers (of beef), and those who consume it (beef). None of these people has asked the Government to introduce such a law,” said Veera Sangaiyya, State secretary of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. It was only those who wanted to worship cows who were demanding this law, he added.

Criticising the idea of calling the cow as sacred, poet L. Hanumanthaiah said, “None of the ancient Hindu texts, including the Ramayana, Mahabharatha or the Upanishads, hold the cow as scared or prohibit the consumption of beef. In fact, the reverse is true. Several texts record the consumption of beef. The cow is being projected as sacred to gain political power.” A blanket ban on the sale and slaughter of cows would adversely affect farmers, as they would be made to incur huge expenses for the upkeep of old and diseased cows, he said.

“Neither farmers, Dalits, nor minorities want this Bill. Even the Congress, the Janata Dal (Secular), and the Left parties have opposed it. What moral or democratic right does the BJP Government has to enact such a law?” asked K.L. Ashok, State secretary of the Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike. At a time when thousands of farmers were committing suicide in distress, the Government was proposing a Bill that would further harm their interests, he added.

President of the movement A.K. Subbaiah said that the law was only being passed for the convenience of religious leaders. “If they want to perform puja for the cow, they can do so with a photograph