Indian State Approves Life Term for Killing Cows
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat amended the Animal Preservation Act, raising the maximum punishment for slaughtering a cow from seven years to life imprisonment. This makes the western Indian state have the toughest laws in the protection of cows.
"The Gujarat Assembly passed a cow protection bill, among the most stringent in the country, making cow slaughter a life-time punishable offense," Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said in a statement. "Protection of cows is the single most important principle towards saving the whole world from both moral and spiritual degradation."
Cows are revered by the Hindu religion as the mother of civilization and many worshippers equate its slaughter or eating beef as blasphemy. In explaining the rationale behind the bill, Minister for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja said a cow is not an animal but rather a symbol of universal life.
"Anybody who does not spare the cow, the government will not spare him," he said.
The amendment makes it more dangerous to kill a cow than a human being. Aside from life sentence, the penalty for killing a cow has been doubled to $1,543 while the mere transport of the animals for slaughter could mean spending 10 years in jail. The new law will take effect upon the governor's approval.
Jadeja assured that the amendment to the act was made in consultation with the people.
"This is not a bill but a feeling of crores of Indians. It is my humble attempt to give voice to the cows being killed by butchers," he went on. "A single drop of cow blood falling on earth pains Hindus."
Modi's ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long campaigned for the protection of cows. BJP's new chief minister in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, has launched a crackdown on slaughterhouses since taking office in early March, which led to mobs burning down meat shops across the state.
