Saffron tide and scarce beef: How a new political era is rewriting Bengal’s food habits

A decade ago, Kolkata's intellectuals took to the streets to eat beef. It was a deliberate act of defiance — a response to the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, over rumours that he had stored and consumed beef at home, and an alleged environment of intolerance across the country. A former Bengal minister, ex-mayor of Kolkata and a poet assembled publicly in what was then considered the intellectual heartland of India's resistance to majoritarian politics. The message was unmistakable: Bengal was different.

It isn't anymore.

As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wastes no time in importing the politics of the cow belt in Bengal, a flurry of new restrictions on the cattle economy has since rattled everyone downstream — from Kolkata's storied beef restaurants to the small farmers who depend on livestock businesses — particularly before a Muslim festival.

State BJP govt brings strict guidelines

Soon after Bengal was painted saffron on May 4, the new government of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari reiterated enforcement of the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950, which mandates “fit-for-slaughter” certificates issued by civic authorities and government veterinary surgeons jointly before slaughtering cattle legally.

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They also have to agree in writing that the animal is over 14 years, which makes it unfit for work or breeding, or that it has become permanently incapacitated because of old age, injury or disease.

The May 13 order also mentioned a 2018 order given by the Calcutta High Court, which also barred the slaughter of any animal, such as bull, bullock, cow and others, unless a fit certificate is obtained.

The government said flouting the Act could result in punishments such as six months of imprisonment or a penalty of Rs 1,000, or both. The notice also banned public slaughter of animals, saying they would be slaughtered only at those designated by the authorities. Illegal cattle markets have also come under the government’s scrutiny.

HC refuses to interfere

The Calcutta HC refused to interfere with the state government’s notification, with its Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen observing that it was in compliance with the court’s previous orders. Holding that the BJP government’s notification saw the court’s 2018 order attaining finality, the Bench said it did not find a basis to stay or set aside the May 13 notice and dismissed petitions that challenged the government’s guidelines.

Disruption just ahead of Bakr Eid

The saffron government’s initiative to curb cattle slaughter and the court’s refusal to intervene have had a direct impact on the sale of beef, particularly ahead of the Bakr Eid festival next week.

Finding no relief from the high court either, which noted that a past ruling by the Supreme Court had held that the sacrifice of cows is not an essential part of the Eid-Uz-Zuha festival and is not considered a compulsory religious practice in Islam, cow traders and markets across Bengal have seen their activities stalled, which is proving to be commercially counterproductive, particularly when a religious event is round the corner.

Beef traders, restaurants face tough time

The Telegraph online reported that beef markets and restaurants in Kolkata were already facing a shortage of supply after the Suvendu Adhikari government issued the notification.

In a reflection of what is generally witnessed in the Hindi belt, butchers and restaurateurs in the country’s ‘cultural capital’ have remained confused and apprehensive as the strict guidelines have come into effect. They have not just reduced beef’s availability but also saw the prices soaring and compelling the eateries to drop the meat from their menu shelves.

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Several beef stalls at the meat market inside Kolkata’s famous Hogg Market (also called New Market) have remained shut, the report said, while quoting one of the butchers who runs business there as saying that an ambience of fear prevailed. The shop-owners feel the guidelines are vague and are apprehensive about the scale of punishment that selling of beef could lead to.

Questions are also being asked about the cattle’s biology. One butcher, for example, told The Telegraph online that a cow typically doesn’t live beyond five to six years. Waiting for it to turn 14 or older becomes challenging in that case.

Prices shoot up

The shortage has seen prices of the meat going up from around Rs 400-450 a kilogram to nearly Rs 650, the report added. Customers are also having a tough time, and restaurants across Kolkata that are notable for their beef offerings have stopped serving them, fearing a government backlash. Some eateries said they would sell the dishes as long as the stocks last.

Hindu cattle traders also affected

The issue has not remained restricted to one particular community either. Bengal’s Hindu dairy and cattle farmers have also expressed angst over the government’s decision, as the rural livestock economy has been adversely affected, ahead of the occasion of Eid, as thousands depend on it for extra earnings.

In various districts, such as South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad, and Birbhum, small dairy farmers who sell ageing or non-productive cattle during the festival season to recover the maintenance cost and reinvest in younger animals are facing difficulties.

“The government has no idea of the cattle economy, otherwise they would have given us time before implementing the 1950 law,” Sasanka Mandal, a cattle farmer from Bamangachi in South 24 Parganas district’s Bhangar area, told The Federal.

“We spend Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day on each animal, depending on age and size. The cow hardly survives for 14 years, but the government says the minimum age for selling cattle should be 14. What should we do with cattle that have stopped giving milk before that?” he asked in a tone of disappointment.

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Farmers have said the stricter enforcement of the cattle-slaughter guideline has hurt the seasonal cattle market because traders and buyers fear legal complications and vigilante action.

The controversy was fuelled recently when newly elected BJP MLA Rekha Patra stopped a cattle-laden vehicle in Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas district and sought the cows’ “birth certificates” to prove they were eligible for slaughter.

Even zoo animals' diet changed

It’s not just the human beings and their festival which are at the receiving end. The shortage of beef is also being felt in Kolkata’s Alipore Zoo, one of the largest in the country. According to a Times of India report, zoo authorities were busy finding alternative food sources for the carnivorous inmates, who are fed beef, with chicken and pork emerging as substitutes as of now.

A disruption in beef supply has left the officials worried over the nutrition of large carnivores in the zoo, including lions, tigers and leopards. Zoo sources said chicken and pork could only serve as temporary arrangements, and ensuring their steady supply is also not without challenges.

The report added that health department officials at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation said several meetings have been held to address the issue of animal nutrition in the absence of beef, but no solution was found.

Zoo authorities source beef through two dedicated suppliers from Kolkata's Tangra area. But with the supply chain itself having come under strain, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has asked the zoo to try to source meat from Haringhata in Nadia district of Bengal, the report added.

Another Times of India report said Kolkata's only abattoir in Tangra was no longer receiving fresh supplies of cattle since last week. While more than 180 heads of cattle were at the unit, only 22 were allowed for slaughter since the rest did not meet the government's guidelines.

Officials of the KMC's health department, under which the abattoir is run, told the news outlet that fresh cattle were not being allowed into the unit till its required approval was renewed.

Opposition slam govt: 'Don't play with fire'

Meanwhile, the Opposition was fuming over the government’s strict cattle-protection push. Even though Shamik Bhattacharjee, the state BJP chief and a moderate face of the lotus party, has taken a soft stand on the issue of beef consumption, it has not convinced the opposition voices.

Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir, who won in this year’s Assembly election from Murshidabad district, strongly opposed the new government’s instructions and warned it against playing with fire. "The government can make a rule asking Muslims not to eat beef, but ritual sacrifice [qurbani] will continue. We won’t listen to any objections,” Kabir, a former member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), was quoted as saying by Asian News International news agency.

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According to him, whatever is written in the Quran will be followed, and qurbani will take place as usual. He then told the chief minister not to play with fire, saying it might prove dangerous. Kabir said the Muslim community would not compromise on the question of qurbani.

Akhruzzaman, a TMC MLA from Raghunathganj, also in Murshidabad, had moved the Calcutta HC against the government’s notice, but it was rejected.

“The BJP government of Suvendu Adhikari wanted to target Muslims, but in the process, Hindus are suffering more,” Nausad Siddique, Indian Secular Front MLA from Bhangar, told The Federal.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Mohammed Salim said the incidents of cattle seizure, disruption of livestock markets and harassment of traders by “overenthusiastic” supporters of cow protection were making small vendors, cattle-rearers and minorities across Bengal live in a state of fear.