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Mumbai's meat ban cheats people

India's cosmopolitan commercial centre Mumbai is fast turning authoritarian, thanks to politicians who want to extract their pound of flesh with an eye on votes. First it was the beef ban, now there is a blanket ban on meat for four days in view of the Jain Paryushan festival. The ban has been imposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on September 10, 13, 17 and 18. Besides the ban on slaughter, meat and poultry shops as well as fish markets, will remain closed for four days. This has sparked outrage among traders and non-vegetarians.
The Shiv Sena, a senior partner in the BMC, and other parties have opposed the order, saying that the authorities "cannot decide what we should eat and what we should not".
India is a secular nation, and such directives are unconstitutional. Under the constitution, the state shall treat all religions equally. The country has diverse communities, and the state cannot decide what people should consume, and when. But this year, Mumbai's tolerance is being tested at the start of the festival season, as its politicians are bent on killing the spirit of community living and diversity in the 'maximum city'.
Who is the state to decide what other communities like the Muslims, Christians and Hindus should not eat during a festival of another community?
The ban on cow-slaughter some months ago set off this trend. Now, politicians are keen on taking it to the limit with a ban on all kinds of meat. What else do you call it but appeasement of a community that wields economic clout. What the political class does not understand is that voters are smarter than they think. They will wait for the polls to extract their pound of flesh.