Meat sellers in India strike amid clampdown on illegal slaughterhouses..........

Meat lovers in India's Uttar Pradesh state likely have to curb their appetite as sellers go on an indefinite strike protesting a crackdown on illegal abattoirs after a Hindu right-wing leader took office last week.
Slaughterhouses and meat shops in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) have come on to the radar of the authorities since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored a stunning win in the recent state election.

After the victory, Modi named a brash priest-cum-politician, Yogi Adityanath, to lead India's most populous and politically most prized state, home to around 220 million people.

And in one of his first moves as chief minister, Adityanath initiated a crackdown on abattoirs deemed illegal, thus acting upon a campaign promise. 

While most of these butcher shops have been traditionally run by Muslims, cow slaughter is a highly-sensitive issue for devout Hindus.

The BJP has also turned beef and cow slaughter into a major electoral issue in recent years.

At a rally on Sunday in his hometown of Gorakhpur, Adityanath once again pledged to reinforce efforts to protect the cow - an animal regarded as sacred by many Hindus.

"All the illegal operations in slaughterhouses should end now," Adityanath said. "The majority of the slaughterhouses and meat shops are running without licenses and government approval. I know that in the name of buffalo, cows are being slaughtered in many abattoirs. This should end."

But in response to the state government's crackdown, many shopkeepers across the state launched an indefinite strike on Monday.

culled from dw