Newmai News Network Tura | June 14 Beef became the centre of controversy once again with the town of Williamnagar in Garo Hills district of Meghalaya being witness to the Congress party led protest rally. The rally on Wednesday was against the Narendra Modi led NDA government for its alleged attempt to ban beef with the regulation on cruelty to animal act which forbids sale of cattle at animal market for slaughter. Minster of Education, Deborah Marak, Parliamentary Secretaries Cherak Momin and Sengnam Marak led a crowd of about 2000 to march the streets of Williamnagar and chanted anti-Modi and anti-National People’s Party (NPP) slogans for the regulations, which they termed as “infringement of the fundamental rights of citizens”. The rally termed the move as an attempt at indulging in Hindutva ideology aimed at creating a rift amongst the society. “Garos and many other communities in India eat beef. Those who consume meat do not belong to any particular religion. Modi government has interfered with people’s right to eat. Our government has passed a resolution opposing the centre’s notification. We have to send out the message to the centre that people of Garo Hills will not tolerate such actions of the central government,” said Deborah Marak. The central notification has turned out to be a major political issue in Garo Hills ahead of 2018 election with Congress leader slamming National People’s Party (NPP), an ally of the NDA. “BJP is making an attempt to make their inroad in Garo Hills with its partner NPP. We have to be alert and stop their movement and political vendetta,” added Cherak Momin. NPP chief and Tura Lok Sabha MP Conrad Sangma had expressed reservation on the notification and had written to the Prime Minister arguing against the new regulation. He had said that the new rules among other provisions, impose a number of restriction on cattle trade, which would have serious impact on the socio-cultural and economic condition of the people.
