Subramanian Swamy for central law to ban cow slaughter

BHUBANESWAR: Seeking a complete ban on cow slaughter in the country, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today said he would urge the Union government to bring a central legislation for the purpose so that all states can follow it.

"I am surprised to find that a large number of cattle are being smuggled from Odisha to Bangladesh via West bengal. I urge the state to stop the illegal practice," Swamy told reporters here.

Stating that the Supreme Court in an order in 1958 had categorically said that eating beef was not essential part of Islam, Swamy said, "their protection is considered sacred for Hinduism."

There should be a total ban on cow slaughter, he said adding the directive principles in the Constitution also suggests protection of cow.

Claiming that milk of Indian cow had many medicinal values which is not found in the milk of cattle in other countries, Swamy said, "New Zealand is planning to procure high quality cow for the purpose of health care".

Earlier, while addressing a meeting in a private university, Swamy said there were about 50 million of cattle in India. However, milk production in India was much less than that of the other countries.