During Kanwar Yatra, Hindu beef traders too should be asked by the government to stop slaughter and exports, and use Hindu names
Advocate Harsh Gautam speaks on forcing Muslim hotels to change names and shut shops
Townhall Times Every year during the Kanwar Yatra in India, certain familiar scenes have now become routine. Organizations linked to Hindutva and local administrations often ask Muslim shopkeepers to keep their meat and fish shops closed for a few days along the pilgrimage route. In many places, they are pressured to change shop signboards, threatened, and sometimes even assaulted. This pattern is especially visible in states ruled by the BJP.
Commenting on this, Advocate Harsh Gautam asks: if the true intention is to respect religious sentiments, why are these appeals and restrictions always one-sided? “The Kanwar Yatra is taken out to worship Lord Shiva, who is said to love cows. Yet, in India, it’s not just Muslims but also many Hindu traders and companies who are involved in cow slaughter and beef export. So will the government also appeal to them to stop slaughter and exports during the yatra? Or ask them to shut their business for a few days?” he questions.
According to Gautam, “If religious sentiment is genuinely equal for everyone, then such appeals should apply to everyone. Otherwise, this is nothing but politics and hypocrisy.”
In reality, there is a widespread belief that the beef trade in India is entirely controlled by Muslims. But the truth is different. According to data from APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), out of 74 licensed large slaughterhouses in the country, at least 9 are owned by Hindus.
For example, the country’s largest and most modern slaughterhouse, Al Kabeer Exports, sprawls across roughly 400 acres in Medak district of Telangana and is owned by Satish Sabbarwal. This company exports beef worth hundreds of crores every year to countries like Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Doha, where it also maintains offices.
Similarly, there are several other companies owned by Hindus: Arabian Exports in Mumbai (owned by Sunil Kapoor), MKR Frozen Foods in Delhi (owned by Madan Abbot), Al Noor Exports (owned by Sunil Sood and Ajay Sood), AOV Exports (director O.P. Arora), and Standard Frozen Foods (Kamal Verma). While these companies have Hindu ownership, the business remains the same—animal slaughter and beef exports.
Other Hindu-owned businesses include Ashwini Agro Exports (director K. Rajendran) and Maharashtra Foods Processing & Cold Storage (Sunny Khattar). As Khattar puts it: “I am Hindu and I am in the beef business, so what? Religion and trade are two different things.”
There are also firms like Kanak Traders, which do not own slaughterhouses themselves but process and package meat for export. Rajesh Swami from Kanak Traders says, “In this business, there is no Hindu-Muslim distinction. Everyone works together.”
Experts believe that if the government truly wants to respect religious sentiments fairly, it shouldn’t limit its appeals to Muslim shopkeepers to close meat shops. Appeals should also be made to these big companies with Hindu names, asking them to halt slaughter and exports during the Kanwar Yatra.
Otherwise, the entire exercise appears to be more about political showmanship than genuine respect. True respect for faith would only be seen when appeals are made equally and fairly to all sides, instead of selective, one-sided restrictions. The real question is—are the government and society ready for that?
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