The High Court was hearing the case of a man named Javed who was accused of slaughtering a cow, and denied him bail.
Image for representation/ PTI
The cow should be declared a national animal and cow protection should be a fundamental right of Hindus, the Allahabad High Court observed on Wednesday, September 1. The court was hearing the matter of a Muslim man named Javed, who was accused of cow slaughter and denied bail by the HC bench, headed by Justice Shekhar Yadav. The single-judge bench made several controversial observations while hearing the matter, including, “We know that when a country's culture and its faith gets hurt, the country becomes weak”. The bench noted that the accused man had stolen the cow, slaughtered it and kept its meat, LiveLaw reported. The court also observed that this is not the first time the accused was slaughtering cattle. “Even before this offense, he had committed cow slaughter and disturbed the harmony of the society,” the bench said in its judgement. It added that if the accused was given bail, he will continue to commit similar offences in the future. The accused has been charged under Section 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code and under sections 3, 5 and 8 of the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. The bench observed that fundamental rights are not only for beef eaters, but also for those who worship cows and use cows for livelihood. It also added that the right to eat beef can never be considered a fundamental right and that “the right to life comes above the right to kill”. The court also observed that the cow is “worshipped as a mother even when she gets old and sick and therefore nobody can be given the right to kill her”. It added that cows’ dung and urine are useful for agriculture and making medicines even when the animal is old. Muslim rulers also banned cow slaughter Justifying its observations, the court added that in ancient India, Hindu as well as Muslim rulers recognised the cow as an important part of India’s culture and banned its slaughter. However, while many have claimed that Muslim, including Mughal rulers in India punished those who slaughtered cattle, there is no definitive proof of this being true. The Allahabad High Court observed that it is “painful to see people talking about cow protection becoming cow-eaters”. The government builds cow sheds but the people entrusted to take care of the animals end up not doing so, it added. It also observed at length about cows dying of hunger, eating plastic and contracting diseases. “The bad condition of cows, who have stopped giving milk, could be seen on the roads and streets. Sick and mutilated cows are often seen unattended,” it said, questioning what cow conservationists were doing in such cases. However, in the most bizarre of observations, the bench noted that the cow is the “culture of India”, and that every citizen should work towards protecting the country’s culture, irrespective of religion. “The country would be safe only if its cows are protected...The government will have to introduce a Bill in the Parliament to declare cows as a national animal and make strict laws against those who talk about harming cows,” it added. Referring to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the bench observed that India should keep in mind that whenever Indians forgot their ‘sanskriti’ or culture, foreign powers have invaded and colonised the country. The bench also added that irrespective of faith, all citizens should take a step to “unite India” and “support its faith”, and that those whose faith and belief are not “in the interest of the country will weaken the country by talking like this”. Earlier, in 2017, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had observed that the Uttar Pradesh government’s plan to ban the illegal slaughter of cattle “affects public life”. “Thus, it is the private life of an individual that is also affected who may desire to have such foodstuffs as his private choice of consumption,” it had said.
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