8 October 2018

2 minute read

Asia

During his interaction at the India Today Conclave East 2018, Biren Singh said that the party leadership never asked him to impose a ban on beef in Manipur.

When asked if there were any plans to ban beef in Manipur, Mr Singh said, "No, nothing like it [is going to happen]. Who can dictate in the matters of food?"

He also said that he did not subscribe to the idea of putting a ban on beef-eating saying it was "never" on his agenda. He was questioned about whether or not this was a double standard on the part of the BJP, to shich he replied, "We are a free society."

Biren Singh, who joined the BJP ahead of the assembly election in 2016 after accusing the then Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi of not addressing the grievances of senior party functionaries, said, "They [the BJP leadership] have never asked me to do so. They have never asked me. We are a free society."

While many states have laws banning cow slaughter and have tight regulations regarding beef-eating, states in the Northeast do not have a strict control over it. Officially, beef was banned in Manipur in 1939 by the then maharaja. But the ban was never enforced. Beef is freely consumed in Manipur.

Mr Singh and other BJP leaders have maintained that the government headed by it in Manipur would not impose a ban on beef in the state. He had said in the past that beef was part of the traditional diet of Manipur.

Mr Singh was quoted as saying, "Beef is very important here. All Christians eat it, most tribal communities, valley people eat beef."

Among the other Northeast states, cow slaughter is not banned in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. Assam, however, regulates it under "fit for slaughter" certificate.

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