Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday announced that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will soon be formulated to ensure that the qurbani or sacrifice of cows is not carried out within 5 km radius of religious institutions during Eid.
Addressing a press briefing at the Lok Sewa Bhawan, the Chief Minister said, “The sacrifice of any other animal, as part of a religious practice, can be carried out. However, the sacrifice of cows will not be allowed within 5 km radius of religious institutions during Eid. We are working to create an SOP to ensure strict implementation of the provisions laid out in the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill across the state.”
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The Chief Minister highlighted that incidents of disposing severed cow heads across the states have been on the rise frequently after Eid-ul Zuha, which he attributed to the lenient implementation of provisions of the Assam Cattle Protection Bill by local authorities.
“The district administration failed to enforce the law that prohibits slaughter and consumption of beef within 5 km radius of religious institutions like temples, naamghars, and gurdwaras. As a result, people awareness was lacking and we witnessed an increase in incidents of beef consumption and disposal within prohibited areas,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister’s decision comes amid a rise in cases involving the recovery of severed cow heads in multiple districts including Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhipur, Lakhimpur, and Hojai.
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Among recent incidents, a severed cow head was found near a naamghar in Lakhimpur on Tuesday, leading to the arrest of seven individuals. Earlier on June 15, five people were arrested in Goalpara for allegedly dumping a severed cow head near a temple in Lakhipur.