Allahabad High Court hands abattoirs reprieve after crackdown in Uttar Pradesh

Butchers from the Qureshi community gather outside meat shops ordered to close, following regulations imposed by newly elected Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, in Lucknow, India, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/Files

Uttar Pradesh must immediately re-issue licences to abattoirs closed in a recent crackdown led by Hindu hardliners that angered the country’s Muslim minority, a court ruled on Friday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest who has in the past been accused of fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric, ordered the closure of unlicenced slaughter houses after he was appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March.

The crackdown was welcomed by right-wing Hindu groups who want to end the slaughter of cows, considered holy in Hinduism, but hit the Muslim community hard. The minority accounts for almost a fifth of Uttar Pradesh’s population and dominates the meat industry.

read more- Reuters

 

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