In Seemanchal, PM Narendra Modi's cattle call robs landless of income

ARARIAKISHANGANJ: People may be divided along religious lines here. But the lines blur when it comes to the cattle economy.

The Narendra Modi government's decision to stop cattle from crossing over to Bangladesh might have pleased many for religious reason, but this isn't the case in four Seemanchal districts -Araria, Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar -where the move has hit both Hindus and Muslims hard.

The impact of the strict ban is all pervasive. Hindus don't eat beef but have been selling old cattle to smugglers for years, earning good money. It's hard to find any farmer here who doesn't rear cattle for clients in Bangladesh. Now, they're at a loss. "We spend a lot to raise cattle. Now, there's no taker.How do we feed our families," asks Mohammed Iftekar of Aamgacchi, a village in Araria. Bhola Paswan agrees. He says 300 Hindu families in his village of 1,500 too have been rearing cattle. The earning was good when they sold it to agents who sent it across the border.

Get into a conversation with small businessmen in Araria town and they'll tell you how the ban has hit the market in urban areas. "Jab logo ke paas kum paisa hoga to wo kharch kaise karenge (how will people spend when their earnings dry up)," asks Vidyut Shah of Araria.

Locals - Hindu and Muslim - have the same tale of woes in Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar. The issue is sensitive and they know no politician would raise it, in Patna or Delhi. "Why didn't the government create an alternative source of income before cracking down on cattle smuggling," asks Zubair Alam of Kisanganj. An estimated 2 million heads of cattle used to be smuggled into Bangladesh from India annually . The multi-crore rupee trade flourished for over four decades. Though this is considered legal by Bangladesh, India has always treated it as illegal.

Successive governments didn't enforce the ban strictly till the Modi government came to office. Now, this has become a sticking point in Seemanchal. Though this doesn't affect big farmers much, most Hindus and Muslims have small landholdings and were forced to depend on the cattle trade. Seemanchal has many landless people whose sole source of income was from selling cattle across the border. "Now we don't have any steady income.Many of us will now head for Punjab and Haryana in search of work as farmhands," says Shyam Razak of Harijan Tola near Kishanganj.

Issues such as this that affect the livelihood of lakhs of people will have a repercussion in the electoral battle when 24 Assembly constituencies vote on November 5.