Hyderabad, (Samajweekly) AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has urged Telangana police chief to stop harassment of cattle traders and transporters by cow vigilantes, police and other officials on the eve of Bakrid.
Owaisi said that alarming situation is sought to be created by anti-social elements in Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Rachakonda and other places in the entire Telangana region. Cow vigilantes are trying to harass the persons trading in or transporting oxen and buffaloes on the eve of Bakrid.
The MP wrote a letter to Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy, requesting him to intervene and issue clear instructions to Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Rachakonda and other police commissioners and superintendents of police as well we municipal, revenue and animal husbandry officials assisting them not to prevent the transport of oxen and buffaloes to various places in the state, more particularly to Hyderabad.
The police officials manning the checkposts may be specifically directed not to harass the traders/transporters of oxen and buffaloes and not to book the cases or seize the cattle, he said.
AIMIM general secretary and MLA Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri and MLC Syed Amin Ul Hasan Jafri on Tuesday submitted the representation to the DGP on behalf of their party leader.
The MP pointed out that during the Eid, Muslims sacrifice goats, sheep and bulls for three days. Traditionally, thousands of sheep and goats and scores of bulls are brought to Hyderabad and other main towns and cities for sale on the eve of Bakrid. Almost 50 per cent of the 44 lakh Muslims in Telangana State live in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area.
He urged the DGP to instruct the police officials not to insist on certificates from veterinary doctors on the age of fitness of the animals for slaughter, not to book cases for so-called overcrowding of animals in vehicles as there are no norms on the number of animals that can be transported in different types of light commercial and heavy vehicles and not to seize large number of oxen by claiming that they are calves.
“Muslims have to sacrifice goats, sheep and cattle (oxen) only if they are healthy and fit for consumption. Sacrifice of unhealthy, sick, aged or emaciated animals is strictly prohibited. Hence, there is no question of sacrificing animals that are declared unfit or condemned or are very old and emaciated. The police, municipal, revenue and veterinary officials who are manning these checkposts have to be told that sick, aged and condemned animals cannot be sacrificed during Bakrid,” he wrote.
Eid-ul-Adha or Bakrid, the second biggest festival of Muslims, is to be celebrated on July 21.
