Beef Trade Hits India’s Sacred Cow

19 Apr

New Delhi (CNN) — When 33-year-old Ashoo Mongia visits the supermarket it’s rarely for stocking up his fridge for the week. As head of a cow protection enforcement team, he regularly scours Delhi grocery stores and outdoor markets for food products containing cow beef.

For the last 15 years, Mongia and his team of 120 Delhi-based volunteers have thrown themselves in a battle that pits India’s billon-dollar meat industry and growing underground beef trade against Hindu traditionalists keen on preserving the holy status of cows.

“The cow is our mother, it’s our duty to protect her,” said Mongia, who monitors and raids hundreds of stores, butcher shops and slaughterhouses suspected of carrying, selling or slaughtering India’s blessed bovines. “We do this because we believe in what the cow represents in our country, our culture and in the Hindu religion.”

This year, India will displace the United States as the world’s third largest beef exporter, behind Brazil and Australia. In just the first half of 2012, India exported $1.24 billion worth of meat, and a 30 percent growth in revenue from 2010 exports is projected by the end of the year, according to a U.S. Beef Export Federation study.

While the bulk of Indian exports is buffalo meat bound for Middle East and Southeast Asian markets, the growing middle class in Arab countries has sparked a new craving for cow beef…

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2 Responses to “Beef Trade Hits India’s Sacred Cow”

  1. pfaharyana May 20, 2012 at 5:26 am #

    On December 10, 2000 a special cattle train 40 boogies cows for slaughtering were forcibly hijacked by founder chairman, PFA Haryana Naresh Kadyan now representing OIPA in India as well, FIR was lodged with GRP, Faridabad, in continuation on December 28, 2000 another 40 boogies train was also stopped in Gaziabad on the complaint of Naresh Kadyan, FIR was lodged with GRP, Gaziabad but no one is following the case and cows, where as Mr. Parmanand Mittal based in Gaziabad also silent on this issue. It was turning point in India. After some days Naresh Kadyan stopped 1500 oxen transportation via trains in Derra Bassi, Punjab.
    Naresh Kadyan campaign hard against lifting ban on beef export and Govt of India take U turn.

  2. pfaharyana May 20, 2012 at 5:29 am #

    We strongly opposed lifting ban on beef export and PFA Haryana – http://www.pfaharyana.in have national record stopping two cattle trains 40 boogies each full of cows for slaughter with in 15 days.

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