Call to halt trafficking of cattle from TN to Kerala

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On an average, 1.80 lakh cattle are trafficked to Kerala every month and this is depleting cattle and livestock wealth in Tamil Nadu.

Concerned over the impact of cattle trafficking on the agrarian economy, and also considering the plea for total ban on slaughter of cows for meat, the Temple Worshippers Society (TWS) documented the chronology of events necessitating the demand for ban on slaughter of cows for meat and its impact on ecology.

The TWS, formed by like-minded persons two years ago, urged the state government to formulate policies linking agriculture and dairy development with cattle, setting up bio-gas projects and reducing utilisation of chemical fertilizers, to save the cattle.

Radha Rajan, B.R. Haran, S.V. Badri and T.R. Ramesh of TWS assert that the depleting cattle wealth deeply affects the country’s agricultural progress and a study by the team revealed that the regression of agriculture was directly proportional to the progression of the meat industry, and that the successive governments failed the nation on the issue of banning cattle slaughter.

Recommendation to totally ban cattle slaughter was first made in 1947 by Sardar Datar Singh, heading an expert committee, but nothing has been done, they said.

Since the time of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and till the recent past, despite Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi warning the NDA government that he would go on a fast-unto-death, no action had been taken so far on the issue.

Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa should formulate policies and bring the cattle smuggling mafia to book. Also, steps should be taken to construct cattle shelters on temple lands where the rescued cattle could be maintained.