Assam passes Cattle Preservation Bill

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that his government does not want to curb anybody’s right to consume beef through Cattle Preservation Bill, but wants to ensure that it isn’t consumed in areas which are predominantly inhabited by the Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and other non-beef eating communities, or within a radius of 5 km of a temple or a monastery.

The Assam assembly passed the Bill with a voice vote.

The opposition parties including the Congress and All India United Democratic Front moved nearly 75 amendments and wanted the bill to be sent to the select committee. However, the bill was passed by voice vote and after that some MLAs raised “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Jai Shree Ram” slogans inside the assembly.


Participating in the debate, Sarma said: “Gopinath Bordoloi, the first chief minister of Assam, brought Cattle Preservation Act in 1950 itself, much before Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. These states came up with the law in 1954.”