Guwahati: After Barpeta MP and senior Congress leader, Abdul Khaleque asked for a ban on the sale of pork in a radius of 250 to 500 metres around mosques in Assam, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national general secretary Dilip Saikia claimed that the question of pork being banned does not arise as pigs are not worshipped by any community in the state.
Mangaldoi MP and National GS, Saikia stated that no religious community worships pigs thus there can be no comparison of beef and pork. “Gau Mata is a common belief among the Hindus and the preservation of cows is a moral responsibility of the Indians. Pigs are not considered to be divine and for this, there is no logic in comparing pigs with cows”, Saikia added.
It may be mentioned that Khaleque speaking on the issue of the new proposed Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, said as pork is forbidden in Islam, there needs to be a ban of slaughter and sale of pork in a radius of 500 metres near mosques.
The bill coined by the BJP aims to ban beef in a radius of 5 kilometres in and around Hindu areas that have temples around. Khaleque pointing to this issue, asked for the pork sale ban.
However, The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee’s Media Department Chairperson, Bobbeetta Sharma claimed that Khaleque’s statements are his “personal views”.
She added, “We have already given our official stand on the issue. The Cattle Preservation Act of 1950 was brought by the Congress government and so the new Cow Preservation Bill is not a new thing as the BJP is trying to portray. Our party has demanded some amendments which have been placed in the assembly.”
She further claimed that the BJP by bringing in the issues related to the cow or encounters and other such related topics is trying to divert the people from the primary issues and objectives. “They are trying to divert the people’s attention from the important issues like poor COVID management and slow vaccination process”, she added.