Karnataka’s new cow slaughter law to cripple Goa’s beef supply, traders say

A Goa meat trader said that thousands of families depend on the trade besides even Goa’s reputation as a tourism destination, especially for foreign tourists, is supported by the availability of beef.

The passage of a new stringent ‘Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020’ by the Karnataka Assembly will have a ripple effect in neighbouring Goa and will likely cripple the state’s beef supply, meat traders and sellers have said.

Apart from the foreign tourists, a big chunk of Christians and Muslim residents in Goa also consume beef. (Hindustan Times Photo)

Goa relies almost entirely for its supply of beef on Karnataka. Traders either bring in freshly slaughtered beef from the neighbouring Belgaum district in North Karnataka or bring in live cattle to be slaughtered at the Goa Meat Complex, a government run and the state’s only notified slaughterhouse.

Locally available cattle are not enough to meet the state’s demand, traders have said.

“We have been doing this business for generations. This bill, if assented by the Karnataka government, will bring a complete stop to our business. We will take this up with the Goa government,” Anwar Bepari, a meat trader said.

He said that almost 40% of Goa’s population consumes beef, besides the demand is also from the tourism industry and hotels and restaurants, which mainly cater to foreign tourists.

The president of the Quraishi meat traders association, Manna Bepari, was even more sceptical of the future of meat trade in Goa.

“The new law prohibits even the transport of cattle with a jail term. This will make it near impossible for us to bring live cattle to Goa for slaughter. In Maharashtra, the law was already strict but now in Karnataka, the law has changed too,” he said.

“Thousands of families depend on the meat trade besides even Goa’s reputation as a tourism destination especially for foreign tourists is supported by the availability of beef,” Manna Bepari said.

Both fresh beef as well as cold cuts sold in the state are sourced from suppliers from Karnataka, and any disruption from the Karnataka side has inevitably caused shortages in Goa in the past.

With both Maharashtra and now Karnataka implementing strict laws on the slaughter of cattle, Goa has remained isolated. While the Goa prevention of cow slaughter act prevents the slaughter of cows, the law permits the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, male calves, male and female buffaloes and buffalo calves whose slaughter is allowed subject to an ante-mortem certification by a veterinary surgeon.

Over the years vigilante groups have grown increasingly powerful and have been emboldened in their attempts to disrupt the state’s beef trade by foisting cases against the functioning of the Goa Meat Complex. On two occasions in recent years, the Bombay high court at Goa has dismissed complaints by animal rights NGOs that the complex was being operated in violation of the laws in force as ‘flimsy’.

Around 20 tonnes of beef is consumed in Goa every day. It is mostly eaten by its 26% Catholic and 11% Muslim populations, apart from tourists.

The Goa BJP has however distanced itself from the act of the BJP government in Karnataka.

“What they are doing in the Karnataka assembly, it is their decision. It will not be right for us to comment on it,” ,” said Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade.

The Goa BJP including former chief ministers Laxmikant Parsekar and Manohar Parrikar have in the past vehemently defended their government’s stance on the sale of beef.