Says govt has no right to dictate terms to citizens
the goan I network
MARGAO
Referring to the Centre’s notification on the sale of cattle ban for slaughter, Reginaldo told the media that it is the responsibility of the State government to ensure that vigilantes groups do not hold the State and the people for ransom.
“The government has no right to dictate terms to the citizens, what to eat and not, but the three-year NDA rule has only created controversies, right from beef ban to sale of cattle,” he said, reminding that India is a not a theocratic state where the government decides what comes on each citizen’s plate. “Issues like the present beef ban amongst others need to be perceived in the general context. It is obviously necessary for every Indian to understand that they live in a society wherein the feelings and sentiments of all religions are handled carefully in a spirit of brotherhood,” he said.
While underlining the need to respect the feelings of the Hindus in respect to the way their “Sacred Cow” is treated, Reginaldo, however, said that what is condemnable is the way the “Holy Cow” is being literally milked to polarize and divide the society on religious grounds to suit vote bank political agenda.
Saying that cruelty to all animals need to be avoided, the Congress MLA called for regulation over the way cattle is reared, used, transported and slaughtered. “No religion allows torture and murder of fellow human beings in the name of vigilantism of any kind. May the souls of people like Dadri, the UP victim of cow vigilantism Mohammed Akhlaq, may rest in peace,” Reginaldo said, adding
‘Let’s all live and let live as fellow Indians in communal harmony and let us not allow anyone divide us in the name of religion’.
