IIT Madras students organise beef fest inside campus to protest Centre’s new rules on cattle slaughter

IIT Madras students participating in a beef fest organised to protest the Centre’s new rules on cattle slaughter (Source: ANI)

Around 50 students of IIT Madras participated in a ‘beef fest’ inside the campus to protest the Centre’s recent decision to ban trade of cattle for slaughter in animal markets, news agency ANI reported. The development comes on the heels of a raging debate over the issue which intensified further following a row over a Youth Congress activist butchering a calf in full public view in Kerala.

Tamil Nadu: Around 50 students of IIT Madras participated in a beef fest in the campus to protest the ban on sale of cattle for slaughtering pic.twitter.com/BNnFbJNb1v

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 29, 2017

A case has also been registered against a Youth Congress worker Rijil Makulti and his accomplices for slaughtering a calf in public in Kannur during the beef fest on Sunday. Condemning the incident, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, “What happened in Kerala yesterday is thoughtless,barbaric& completely unacceptable to me & the Congress Party. I strongly condemn the incident.” Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Youth Congress workers have been suspended and that such elements have no place in the party.

Earlier, the beef fest was organised in various parts of Kerala by the Congress and the Left to protest the Centre’s ban. Activists of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, opposition Congress-headed UDF and their youth wings took out marches and organised these fests across the state, where beef is widely consumed.

Expressing strong disapproval of the Centre’s move, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also slammed the BJP-led government at the centre and the RSS, saying there was no need for the people of his state to draw lessons from New Delhi or Nagpur on their food habits.

With inputs from agencies

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