[ti:India's Maharashtra State Bans Beef] [ar:Caty Weaver] [al:As It Is] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]Last week, the western Indian state [00:04.33]of Maharashtra banned beef consumption. [00:08.54]The state government has barred possession or sales of the meat. [00:15.20]Hindu groups welcomed the ban. [00:18.85]But many Muslims in western India have criticized it. [00:24.60]They say it will make tens of thousands of people jobless. [00:30.69]Hindus consider cows holy. [00:35.16]The animals are already protected in India. [00:39.54]But, the new law extends the ban [00:42.97]to slaughtering bulls, bullocks, and calves. [00:47.41]The ban took effect on March 5. [00:51.76]On that day, many slaughter houses in Maharashtra suddenly closed. [00:59.20]Beef disappeared from the menus of restaurants, [01:04.55]including those in the state capital, Mumbai. [01:08.95]Under the new law, having or selling beef [01:13.80]could lead to fines or prison terms of up to five years. [01:19.68]The Bharatiya Janata Party passed the law. [01:24.79]The BJP won control of the state government last year. [01:31.39]The party attempted to ban beef 20 years ago [01:37.44]when it was also in power. [01:39.81]But the ban was never passed because the BJP lost power soon after. [01:47.23]Mohammad Ali Qureshi is president [01:52.31]of the Mumbai Suburban Beef Dealers Association. [01:56.84]He said the ban will have a bad effect [02:01.67]on tens of thousands of butchers, beef retailers, [02:07.06]and others involved in the trade. [02:10.13]He said many of those affected are among the poorest people in the area. [02:17.77]They have little or no education, [02:21.44]and cannot easily get other jobs. [02:25.06]He said people have become jobless without notice. [02:30.25]Beef consumption in India is limited to non-Hindus. [02:36.24]But the country has become the world's second-biggest exporter of beef. [02:43.00]Most of the meat comes from buffaloes. [02:46.68]Hindu groups do not like that India is a major exporter of beef. [02:52.82]They say many cows are being illegally killed. [02:58.00]Muslims control most of the beef trade. [03:02.95]Banning beef has become a major issue between India's Hindus and Muslims. [03:10.87]Venkatesh Abdev is with the World Hindu Council. [03:16.81]He says his group will fight for a nationwide ban on beef consumption. [03:23.85]Mr. Abdev agrees that the ban will affect people working in the beef trade. [03:30.88]But he says it is a price to be paid. [03:34.77]He notes the killing of cows is a very emotional issue for Hindus. [03:41.51]Mohammad Shahid Sheikh is president of a beef transporters group in Deonar, [03:50.22]where one can find India's biggest slaughterhouse. [03:54.22]He says more and more trucks with cattle are being attacked. [04:00.27]The attacks are blamed on Hindu activists. [04:04.41]Mr. Sheikh says those in the beef trade tell protesters [04:10.49]that they are following all of the rules. [04:13.14]But the protesters say they will do everything [04:17.21]they can to prevent the animals from being killed. [04:21.25]The beef ban also became a top trend on Twitter last week. [04:27.97]Some Twitter users supported the move, [04:31.20]but thousands criticized the ban. [04:34.12]Some users compared the progress made on protecting cows [04:39.10]to the lack of progress on safety for women. [04:44.26]In the words of one user, [04:47.54]¡°Good to know India is more safe for cows than women.¡± [04:53.19]I¡¯m Caty Weaver. [04:55.40]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com