In the last few days, Yogi Adityanath’s move to close illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh has caused quite a furore. Wading into the debate, environmentalist Sunita Narain called the move "cruel demonetization". In a blog post for Down To Earth, Narain wrote that while the meat industry was bad for the environment and health reasons, she said as an Indian environmentalist she did not support it because India had a large number of people who needed to eat meat as a source of protein. She also said that India was a diverse culture, where culture of eating food differs between communities. 

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Narain wrote that livestock give lots of poor people ‘economic security’. She added that she would not support a ban on meat or leather, writing: “By doing this we are literally taking away half the potential income the livestock owner possesses. It is stealing from the poor, nothing less. Just imagine if government entered our homes and took away half our assets or made them valueless. What would we say? Banning meat is cruel demonetization.”

She also wrote  that since religious sentiments are strong, cattle should be bought back from the farmer, large gaushalas to take care of them and not militant vegetarianism or "vandalism and violence".

UP meat sellers go on strike

As the meat sellers across Uttar Pradesh went on an indefinite strike from against the crackdown on illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses, they urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to fight for the nation and not for ‘gosht’. "Yogi Adityanath should fight for the nation, not for gosht. Many people are dying without food. It has created chaos. We will support Yogi ji in his fight against Pakistan. If he (Yogi Adityanath) fights for gosht, we will raise our voices," a meat seller told ANI. 

Stating that all of them are facing trouble, another meat seller said all the labourers are disturbed with the present scenario. "Someone commits mistake and others pay for it. We have to earn our living. So many families are dependent on this. We all have become jobless now. There should be a solution to this," said another meat seller. 

After coming to power, the Yogi Adityanath government ordered the closure of illegal slaughterhouses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfill a key electoral promise. Earlier, on Saturday, Adityanath said abattoirs operating legally would not be touched but action would be taken against those run illegally. 

Warning licensed slaughterhouses to comply as per rules, the Uttar Pradesh CM earlier on Wednesday said that strict action would be taken against the illegal ones, adding that the main agenda of the government is to restore law and order in the state. 

With inputs from ANI