Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government Friday amended the state’s Animal Preservation Bill to entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a minimum of 10 years for cow slaughter after it was passed in the assembly in the absence of the Opposition Congress and with the visitors’ gallery packed with saffron-clad Hindu priests.

Speaking on the amendment, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that while he was “not against any food”, he wanted to make Gujarat “shakahari (vegetarian)”, “We do not want Jersey cows, but Gir and Kankreji cows instead,” he said.

Rupani also described Gujarat as a “unique state”, which followed the tenets of Mahatma Gandhi — “non-violence and truth”. “This is Gandhi’s Gujarat, Sardar’s (Vallabhbhai Patel) Gujarat and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi’s Gujarat,” said Rupani.

The passage of the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 came eight months after seven Dalits were beaten by self-styled cow vigilantes for alleged cow slaughter in Una.

The punishment for cow slaughter under the earlier law was imprisonment ranging from three to seven years. The new law also makes offences under the amended Act non-bailable.

The amendment was cleared after the Speaker suspended members of the Congress for creating a ruckus before the Bill was passed.

When the amendment Bill was introduced over a month ago, it had a maximum punishment of ten years imprisonment. On Friday, however, the ruling BJP moved to enhance the punishment to a life-term.

In another major amendment, the Bill included a provision that vehicles caught in transporting cows, beef or beef products illegally will be forfeited to the state government. The maximum fine for the offence has also been increased from Rs 50,000 to one ranging from Rs 1 lakh-Rs 5 lakh.

Besides, the punishment for conviction for illegal transportation of cow, beef or beef products has been increased from three years imprisonment to seven years.

The Act allows transportation of animals of cow progeny with permission, but not between 7 pm and 5 am.

The statement of the Bill reads, “In the year 2011, the State Government had made certain amendments in the said Act for better implementation of the Act. It is, however, experienced while implementing the said Act that still more stringent provisions are required to be made by amending the said Act for curbing the menace of illegal slaughtering of the animals covered under the said Act to provide for more stringent punishment and effectively check the rampant use of vehicles for transporting such animals.”

During the discussion on the Bill, Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja said, “This is not a Bill, but a feeling of crores of Indians. It is my humble attempt to give voice to the cows being killed by butchers. A single drop of cow blood falling on earth pains Hindus. With this law, Vijaybhai Rupani’s government will make Gujarat cow-slaughter-free.”

Jadeja also offered his respects to the “Hindu saints” in the visitors gallery, and said that he was “feeling proud as a Hindu” to introduce the Bill in the House.

One of those present in the gallery, Kaniramji Bapu of Dudhrej in Surendranagar district, an important religious seat of the maldhari community (cattle herders) in Gujarat, said, “We oppose cow slaughter and believe in its preservation. And so, we came here in support of the Act. Cows should be preserved and their slaughtering must end.”

Another religious figure, Mahant Vikramgiri from Ghela-Somnath of Jasdan in Rajkot district, said, “Around 300 sadhu-sants have come to Assembly. Since the government had announced that they will bring the Bill, we knew it in advance and are here to support it.”

In 2011, when Narendra Modi was chief minister of Gujarat, the state government had imposed a complete ban on slaughter of cows, transportation and selling of cow meat by amending the Act.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Senior Karnataka Congress leader C K Jaffer Sharief on Saturday differed from his party’s stand on reports of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat being considered as a candidate for the post of President. In a letter purportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sharief supported Bhagwat’s candidacy and said nobody should have objections about it.

“There are different schools of thought in India and it is but natural for such a vast country. Mr. Mohan Bhagwat may belong to one school of thought but there should not be any doubt about his patriotism, love for the people of India and loyalty to the nation,” Sharief reportedly wrote in the letter.

The 83-year-old’s surprise backing of Bhagwat comes in direct conflict with the Congress party’s stand on the issue.

“It is very clear that we do not support RSS ideology and when it comes to appointing our President, at the right time, we will, of course, have our own internal discussion first and then share,” party leader Gaurav Gogoi told reporters in New Delhi.

It was Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut who began the speculation on Bhagwat when he said the RSS sarsanghchalak should be considered as the NDA candidate for the presidential polls later this year. Current president Pranab Mukherjee’s tenure ends on July 24.

“Bhagwat is a strong leader, a staunch nationalist and has a deep knowledge of the Constitution, so if the BJP wants to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, his name must be considered.. He is the most ideal candidate,” Raut had said.

Bhagwat himself, however, made it clear that he was not interested in the post. “We close all doors on politics before coming here. When we work in the Sangh, we don’t go there (to such high posts). There are many Swayamsevaks up there and they know it well,” the RSS chief said adding that even if his name was nominated, he would not accept it.

(Agencies)

Muzaffarnagar: A group of girls at a residential school here were allegedly threatened and forced to strip by the Principal, following which an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

According to a complaint filed by the parents of the victims, the students of Kasturba Gandhi Residential School at Digri village were Thursday forced to strip by the Principal.

The Principal allegedly threatened the students of dire consequences if they disobeyed her command, District Primary Education Officer Chander Kesh Yadav said.

An enquiry has been ordered, he said.

“There was no teacher around. We were called downstairs (from the hostel). Madam made us take off our clothes saying she will beat us if we did not. We are kids, what could we do? She would have beaten us if we did not obey her,” one of the students said.

The Principal, however, has denied the allegations.

“No one asked them to remove clothes. All this is a conspiracy by the staff because they do not want me to stay here. I had been asked to check whether the staff were performing their duties. I am strict, that is why they hate me,” she said.

Meanwhile, 35 out of the total 65 students of the school left after the reports of harassment by the Principal surfaced.

Many students have come forward with similar allegation, Yadav said, adding the matter is being probed.

(PTI)

Beijing (China): India sees China’s Silk Road initiative as a geopolitical competition and is using the Kashmir issue as an “unfounded excuse” to oppose the ambitious project, Chinese state media today alleged and asked New Delhi to “abandon” its “cliche mentality”.

“The official reason the Indian government rejected the offer to join the initiative (Silk Road) is that it is designed to pass through Kashmir. However, it is just an unfounded excuse as Beijing has been maintaining a consistent position on the Kashmir issue, which has never changed,” one of the two articles on India by state-run Global Times said.

“India sees the Belt and Road initiative as a geopolitical competition,” the article said, criticising India for hindering Beijing’s push into South Asia and the world with multi-billion Silk Road project which is also known as the ‘Belt and Road’ (BR).

“Whether to continue to boycott or join the Belt and Road remains a conundrum for New Delhi,” it said adding that, India is the only one which can help itself. The article said that India should give up its “biased” view on the BR initiative. “It is high time to abandon the cliche mentality of associating everything with geopolitics.

India will surely see a different world if it does,” the article said. Referring to India’s reservations to attend the BR summit called by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the article said it may be an “embarrassing occasion” for India as the meeting is backed by “China’s peripheral countries, notably Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said 20 heads of state will attend the summit, together with over 50 leaders from international organisations, over 100 ministerial officials and more than 1,200 guests from around the world.

The article referred to a comment by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar during his visit here last month to co-chair the upgraded India-China strategic dialogue, saying India is examining China’s invitation to attend the summit and “how a country whose sovereignty has been violated can come on aninvitation”.

In the meantime, however, state-run Chinese media stepped up campaign to pressurise India to join the summit. China apparently is keen about India’s participation in the summit as the project struggled to make headway in the region except the USD 46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) where both Beijing-Islamabad are putting all efforts to show early harvest.

Media reports here said that Xi plans to invite his US counterpart Donald Trump to attend the meeting during their first summit early next month in Florida. BR consisted of maze of roads, including CPEC, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic (BCIM) Corridor and 21st Maritime Silk Road besides road network to connect China with Eurasia.

The article also said, “it seems that the mainstream opinion throughout India is that the connectivity brought about by BR initiative is geopolitically significant. Therefore, India cannot allow the initiative to expand further into South Asia”.

“This could also explain why the BCIM has seen no progress since its proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2013, and also why New Delhi has been keen on Japan’s investment in the Iranian port of Chabahar,” it said.

“New Delhi may also feel embarrassed as Moscow has actively responded to the Belt and Road initiative and will build an economic corridor with China and Mongolia,” it said, adding Russia and Iran seeking to join the CPEC putting “India in a more awkward position”.

It said, “Beijing has expressed, on various occasions, its anticipation to see New Delhi join the grand project and to make concerted effort with India in building economic corridors involving China, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar”.

Another article in the same daily said a “benign” competition between India and China may help development in South Asia but they should avoid “cut-throat” rivalry. “The so-called dragon-elephant contention is perhaps a blow against strategic mutual trust between Beijing and New Delhi, but may be conducive to development in South Asia,” it said.

Accusing India of not being “generous” to its neighbours, it said “a yawning infrastructure funding gap in South Asian countries creates space for China and those nations to strengthen economic cooperation”.

“Bangladesh and China signed 27 deals worth billions of dollars during President Xi Jinping’s visit last year,” it said, adding China’s BR initiative has received an increasing amount of attention from Bangladesh.

“Only by investing more resources in regional integration and extending the benefits from India’s rapid economic growth to other South Asian countries can New Delhi maintain its influence in the region,” it said.

“Benign competition between China and India will be conducive to development in South Asia. The question remaining is how to avoid cut-throat competition as Beijing and New Delhi jostle for influence. India and China should seek common ground while strengthening cooperation with South Asian countries to promote regional integration,” it said.

(Agencies)