Meat sellers in Lucknow, who are on an indefinite strike, on Sunday have called upon their counterparts in the rest of the state to join the strike. The move comes in the wake of the state’s crackdown on “illegal” slaughterhouses and meat shops. “We are asking meat sellers in all districts to shut their shops. We are also asking meat sellers in other states to join our agitation. We will continue our protest against the government’s decision. This action is only causing harassment to the sellers. It is being done merely on the basis of BJP’s manifesto. We are also asking the restaurants to support us. They too are hit by the lack of supply,” said Iqbal Qureshi, president of Meat-Murga Vyapari Kalyan Samiti. Al Umar Chaudhary, general secretary of All India Jamaitul Quraish, an organisation representing butchers, said they have intensified their protest with demonstrations in various districts and voluntary closure by meat sellers across the state. He said they would invite all stakeholders in the business to meetings in the coming days to raise their voice against the government’s action. “Many people linked to the trade are voicing their support for us. We are continuing our strike across the state. The government should at least tell us what it wants. It is the duty of the municipal corporation to run the slaughterhouses and if they are not doing it, why should the sellers should be punished? Thousands of people have become jobless. We would hold a press conference in Lucknow in coming days and announce further details about our protest,” he said. The crackdown has shuttered hundreds of establishments and rendered thousands temporarily jobless. In the absence of “legal” slaughterhouses in many cities, the civic agencies had asked most mutton and buffalo meat shops to remain shut. Chicken sellers too followed suit as they say they sell mutton too and that authorities rarely distinguished between meats.
