"Cow Our Mother, Slaughter Must Stop," Says Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma

"Cow is our mother. We will not allow cows to be smuggled in from West Bengal. Those places where cows are worshipped, beef must not be consumed," said Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Himanta Biswa Sarma on the final day of his first assembly session after becoming Chief Minister of Assam this Monday said the government would take every action within the ambit of the constitution to protect cows in the state. Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi during his welcome speech on the first day of the Assembly last Friday had said that the Assam government plans to introduce Cow Protection Bill to be passed in the next session of the Assembly. "Cow is our mother. We will not allow cows to be smuggled in from West Bengal. Those places where cows are worshipped, beef must not be consumed. It does not mean that everybody has to give up and change habits all of a sudden," said Mr Sarma. Sighting the statement of Darul Uloom, an Islamic society from Lucknow on maintaining sensitivity while consuming beef in places where non-consumers are in majority, Mr Sarma said, "There is no need for a Madina hotel (indicating food joints that serves beef) in Fancy Bazar or in Gandhibasti or Santipur (locations in Guwahati) as there is sensitivity. However, we can appeal to people to give up where there is no sensitivity."