Dimapur, July 13 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on Tuesday said that the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021 is a threat to the inherent trade and food habits of the Northeast region.
In a press release on Tuesday, NPCC President K Therie stated that Bill which was tabled in the Assam Assembly on July 12 “is a threat to peaceful coexistence.”
Stating that caution should be taken before passing the Bill, Therie added that it should not be detrimental to the inherent trade and food habits of the Northeast. “Cow trade in the Northeast extents to Bangladesh and Myanmar through Assam’s length and breadth since time immemorial for the hill states. Any restriction through the Bill will be detrimental to the inherent trade and deprive food,” he added.
Therie said the greater threat will come if the law is misused to implicate people unnecessarily. Terming it as an “imitation of mainland BJP states which have passed cow protection Bills,” he went on to stated that, “We cannot simply change our culture to suit the mainland as we need to be tolerant with the surrounding environment.”
While acknowledging that Assam has the right to legislate its own laws, he underscored that “the Bill should not forget that we are a Union of States and we are economically interdependent.”
