The high court, however, upheld the ban on slaughter of cows and bullocks in the state.
Breaking from tradition, two women were among those who presided over the largely male-dominated Mahapanchayat.
The legislator from West Bengal claimed that there were several incidents where people across the country had been attacked by "cow vigilantes" over rumours of eating beef and smuggling cattle.
"Food is a personal choice, but at the same time there are certain restrictions in the Constitution," he said.
The Constitution is a terrific document, but it is also one that has suppressed the Hindu majoritarian sentiment. We are living through times when this suppression is being popularly rejected, notes Aakar Patel.
Concerned over lynching of a man in Dadri for allegedly consuming beef, the Centre on Thursday sought a detailed report from the Uttar Pradesh government over the incident
'The first person who started beating these men was Nitin, a college president, and the other was Deepak, who is currently absconding.' 'After that, two more joined the mob.' 'The last one who we arrested was a passerby who was going with cremation material to prepare for his father's funeral.' 'He stopped by and he too started beating these men.'
Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra shared on Twitter a purported video clip of BJP's former MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja, who is allegedly seen admitting his supporters have so far 'lynched five people'.
The MLA said the people indulged in stone pelting but police opened fire on them and the inspector was hit by their gunshot. "Police did not murder him deliberately," he said.
'By resorting to divisive issues, the BJP is giving the impression that even if it is voted to power it won't do anything new to give Bihar a facelift. It will repel voters with the belief that the BJP can't do anything without communal polarisation as its core ideology. This is sad and unfortunate,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
At a time when at a time Lalu Prasad Yadav is facing huge flak from his political opponents for stoking a controversy saying Hindus too eat beef, fellow Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Saturday created another furore when he claimed, citing the Vedas, that 'rishis' and 'maharishis' used to consume beef.
"It was a political conspiracy which has been exposed... peace and order will be maintained at all cost... the administration and government have repulsed the designs (of conspirators) sternly," Adityanath said.
The Uttar Pradesh government has sent its report to the Union home ministry on the Dadri lynching episode in which a man was killed over rumours of alleged beef consumption.
Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old man Sumit died of gunshot wounds when a mob went on rampage over alleged cow slaughter.
A man was arrested in connection with the incident and questioned.
Some observers also point to the way he handled the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and economic and social distress that followed it, even suggesting that it may have contributed to his downfall.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed the Dusshera address of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and said the issues of social reform he raised are "very relevant".
The RSS on Sunday said it has not abandoned its commitment to build a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya and sought speeding up of the case proceedings in the Supreme Court.
While so-called 'cow protectors' have indulged in widespread vigilantism under the garb of protection of cattle, there has been little effort to save them from the real threat to their survival -- urban garbage, open dumps and apathy of cow owners.
The party said it is for the states to take a decision on it keeping in mind the "sentiments of the people".
'It does not make a difference to me that I do something which Hindus do'
A group formed by controversial Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Yogi Adityanath --known for his interest in religious conversions dubbed "ghar wapasi" -- offered all possible help "including guns" to the Hindus of Dadri's Bisada village.
Days after Jammu and Kashmir high court banned sale of beef, the state government has shunted out Additional Advocate General Vishal Sharma apparently for "failing to defend" its stand on the matter before the court.
Those who continue to think that the 2024 election will see the BJP pursuing a more militant line are being alarmist, argues Rajeev Mantri. The BJP, Mantri believes, is not about to shoot itself in the foot. If anything, he says, the BJP may be more inclined to push a harder secularism.
A revealing excerpt from Rahul Shivshankar and Siddhartha Talya's book, Modi & India: 2024 and the Battle for Bharat.
"Many people in America see animals, particularly cows, as meat...animals have a soul, personality, they interact," says Sankar Sastri, who runs the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, USA.
There is no sign of it losing popularity with a significant section of the voting population, which appears to be attracted to the party for identity reasons, observes Aakar Patel.
'I am a vegetarian and nobody can force me to eat meat.' 'It is my personal right to decide what I eat.' 'Similarly, telling a person who eats non-vegetarian food not to eat beef is a human rights violation.'
Seven members of a Dalit family were thrashed by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes on July 11, 2016 in Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluka of Gir Somnath district.
In this video, Hardik is seen appealing to Gujarat's Dalits who have been violently protesting thrashing of four young Dalit men in Gujarat's Una by 'gau rakshaks' for engaging in cow slaughter.
Shahnawaz Hussain asked Muslims to demand ban on sale of beef in their states to "promote communal harmony".
'I have seen so many cows roaming the streets of Mumbai. When people from foreign countries see cows roaming on our streets, it is not good.'
With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modi's next radical Big Idea, says Kanika Datta.
After it received complaint that beef was being added to biryani, police and cow vigilantes in Mundaka village in Mewat, Haryana are keeping close vigil to avoid any such incident in view of Eid al-Adha to be celebrated next week.
Natt, who had allegedly shot the inspector during the violence, was arrested on December 18 from Sikandrabad and is in jail.
More than 50 students supported the cause by participating in this fest late on Sunday night. Earlier on May 27, Students' Federation of India staged similar protest in Kerala by eating beef outside University College, Trivandrum.
In Jaipur, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said that it was "alright" that some people caught those who were illegally transporting animals but added that "no one has the right to take the law in their own hands".
Congress vice president has promised to raise the Maharashtra beef ban issue in Parliament, claims beef trader who met him.
'These people are not concerned about Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian -- they are only concerned about being in power,' Akhilesh Yadav tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in his first interview after the election results.
The court will hear the matter on June 13
The BJP's 2022 assembly election win may have further consolidated Adityanath's stock within the BJP. The saffron party is now set to win the UP state polls twice in a row, a feat achieved by no other party in three decades.
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