NEW DELHI (AA): A court in Mumbai has rejected calls for the relaxation of a beef ban for a four-day period over this week’s Muslim Eid celebrations.
Petitions from Muslim groups had called for the Bombay High Court to provide exemptions to the ban imposed in Maharashtra state in March.
The ban made the sale and possession of beef and the slaughter of bulls and calves illegal and punishable by up to five years imprisonment. The slaughter of cows was prohibited in 1976.
The court ruled it could not relax the ban temporarily as the decision lay with the state government.
Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, between Sept. 25 and 28 to mark Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to submit to God’s will and sacrifice his son.
The celebrations focus on the slaughter of animals.
The ban in Maharashtra has become a political issue for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Similar bans exist in other Indian states where the majority Hindu religion revers cattle.
[Photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who told Indians to mark International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2015, has not supported Muslims in the beef ban during Eid Al Adha. Photographer: Vinod Singh/Anadolu Agency]
