For over a month, butchers from the Muslim Qureshi community have been leading a unique protest across Maharashtra. In the face of violent attacks from self-proclaimed “gau rakshaks” or “cow protectors” in the last decade, members of the community have decided to indefinitely stop dealing in buffalo or other bovine meat.
The decision, born of desperation, comes despite the fact that it directly impacts their livelihood and marks what is possibly the first time that such a coordinated and massive resistance to the violence is being seen from within the community.
The amendment, which received presidential approval after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in both the state and Union governments, banned the slaughter of animals belonging to the cow progeny in the state. This amendment prohibited the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, oxen, and cows for meat. Shortly after this change in the law, violence by Hindutva men claiming to be cow protectors also increased dramatically.