Guwahati, Assam: In the winter of December 2024, Sachin Kuli decided to sell his sturdy, around 4-ft high bull to pay for his children’s education. He put the animal on the market, but found no customers, either at his village or at goru bojaars (cattle markets) to which he travelled. 

“All three of my children are in school, and I am in crisis,” said 33-year-old Kuli, a  Hindu scheduled tribe farmer from Sirampuria village in the eastern Assam district of Dhemaji. “I need some urgent money.”

“There are hardly any customers, and, ideally, I should get about Rs 20,000 for one bull, but I am willing to sell it for cheaper,” said Kuli, speaking from his village over the phone. 

Customers for the bull had dried up because 24 days before he decided to sell it, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sharma, on 4 December 2024, extended a partial ban on slaughtering cattle and restrictions on its sale in non-Muslim areas to a statewide ban on eating or selling it in public.

About 515 km to the west of Jonai, in the Hatigaon area in Assam’s capital, K, who spoke on condition of anonymity, sat idle at his beef shop. There were no customers. 

“It has been difficult to get by,” said K, a Muslim who has been selling beef for nearly eight years and is now worried about the future of his trade. “I have my family to feed, and pay a rent of Rs 6,000 every month for this shop.”

“I used to sell more than 60 kg of beef per day,” K said. “Now I'm barely selling 20 kg.” The beef he now sells will only go to the homes of consumers who might buy. K was uncertain about what to do or unprepared for what to do next.

The ban has created ferment throughout the economy around cattle-trading and beef-eating in India’s sixth-poorest state by per capita income—according to 2021 data, the latest available—affecting Hindus as much as it has Muslims, Christians and tribals. 

More than a third of Assam’s people live in poverty, notes this 2017 World Bank report, and the state routinely shows up at the bottom of national nutritional, social and economic indicators, although the poverty rate was down to about 19% in 2023, according to Niti Aayog, the union government’s think tank. 

“Our people live in the char-chapori areas and a lot of us are cow herders,” said Kuli, who belongs to Assam’s indigenous Mising tribe, many among whom converted to Hinduism. A char is a floating island and chaporis are low-lying flood prone riverbanks. 

“Many children from our community and our area are able to go to school because their families sell cattle to earn money,” said Kuli. 

Some of the cattle sold are slaughtered in neighbouring states, such as Meghalaya, which is run by a government where Sarma’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is part of the ruling coalition. The meat then returns to Assam to be sold in restaurants and homes. 

Other beef comes from slaughterhouses within Assam. While general slaughter is banned, cattle that are infirm or above 14 years can be culled but only after official certification, according to the 2021 law. It also restricted inter-state and intra-state transport of cattle, except at “permitted locations”.

In little more than a month, after Sarma’s tightened ban, the cattle and beef trade is grinding to a halt.

A Crisis Of Profits & Livelihoods

The Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, bans cattle slaughter and sale of beef in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are in majority and within a 5-km radius of a temple or satra (a Vaishnavite monastery). 

Chief minister Sarma tightened this law on 4 December, the announcement made at a state cabinet meeting where Sarma said that the decision is an “expansion” of the existing law. 

“We had earlier introduced a bill in Assam to protect cows and we have been successful,” Sarma said, referring to the legislation approved by the state assembly in 2021. 

“Going further, we have decided that beef will not be served in any hotels or restaurants in the state,” he said. “It will also not be served during any public function or in any public place.”  

Cow herders, meat sellers and hotel owners told Article 14 profits had already receded or disappeared after the 2021 ban. Critics and experts said the ban would further affect thousands who depend on the cattle trade. 

“All over India issues are taking a very communal colour,” said Parvin Sultana, a political scientist from the western Assam town of Dhubri. “So, this ban is nothing new, it is an extension of the previous legislation.” 

She noted that an “entire economic system is dependent on cattle” and “not just Muslims, non-Muslim cattle rearers will also be affected by the ban”.

The Poor Are Hit

In India, 20 out of 28 states have various laws regulating the act of cow slaughter and sale of beef. 

These laws vary from state to state. In 2019, IndiaSpend reported the adverse effects of such laws on the livestock economy. In 2022, Article14 reported how Uttar Pradesh’s animal slaughter ban had pushed many out of the meat trade. 

Cow slaughter is now legal only in eight states, including Kerala, Goa, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.

Cows, the majority of which are local breeds, account for a disproportionate share of livestock in the state. Up to 60% of Assam’s livestock are cattle, according to the 2019 livestock census of Assam, the latest data available. 

Extending the ban on trading cows to eating beef will strain the economy, said Rajib Sutradhar, assistant professor of economics at the Northeastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya. “It's an example of politics taking precedence over economics in a poor state that can least afford to do so.” 

“The economic burden of fallout from such laws will fall disproportionately on small holders, many of whom belong to disadvantaged communities,” said Sutradhar.  “The ban will affect the localised, informal trading of cows, which happens during events, local festivals and functions.”

Social scientist Sanjay Barbora said the “beef ban” was aimed at humiliating Muslims, Christians and everyone else who ate beef. 

Not Legal Yet

While the impact of the new beef-ban announcement is already apparent, it appears to be, currently, without legal standing.

Guwahati advocate Santanu Borthakur explained that the government will not be able to take any penal action because it has not yet issued a backing legal notification. 

Article14 sought comment from three Assam ministers, including spokesperson, public relations, printing and stationery, water resources, social justice and empowerment minister Pijush Hazarika, health and family welfare and irrigation department minister Ashok Singhal and public health engineering and housing and urban affairs minister Jayanta Mallabaruah, but did not receive a response. We will update this story if they respond. 

Even if a notification is issued, the ban is open to legal challenges because as many legal experts have noted before in other states, such bans appear to violate the spirit of the Constitution, said experts. 

“They can issue a notification, and based on that notification, they can stop the sale and purchase of beef in a particular area, but the point is it will still not be an offence,” Borthakur said.  

The right to life, which is Article 21 of the Constitution, includes the right to food as a fundamental right, said Borthakur.

Challenging The Constitution

In 2018, a nine-judge bench unanimously declared privacy as a fundamental right in the Puttaswamy vs Union of India case, with Justice J Chelameswar specifically including culinary freedom in privacy, said Faizan Mustafa, vice-chancellor of Chanakya National Law University and a professor of law at Aligarh Muslim University. 

“Due to sensitivity of religious places, one can say that in the vicinity of a religious place no meat shop will be allowed but to expand it to all public places means that nowhere in Assam at any public area or restaurant one would be able to eat what one desires,” said Mustafa. “Then there are chances that the courts may stay such a directive as and when it is issued.” 

Borthakur, too, argued that under the Puttuswamy judgement, an absolute ban would violate the Constitution. “Now, it is up to the court to decide whether it does or not,” he said. 

In 2015, the Bombay High Court upheld a Maharashtra ban on the slaughter of cattle but said that possession of beef was not illegal if it came from outside the state. It struck down two provisions of the law criminalising possession and import of beef, saying they violated the rights to privacy and choice of food guaranteed by the Constitution. 

Cow-slaughter laws in other states have mostly gone unchallenged. Talha Abdul Rahman, advocate on record, Supreme Court of India, referred to the 2021 Assam law and said it enforced restrictions but did not outright ban beef-eating, leaving that to official discretion and leaving details vague. 

“It bans consumption of beef but at the same time expects the government to specify places where it can be consumed,” said Rahman. “In fact, it specifies that such places cannot be within 5 km of a temple. Banning is not absolute because it permits eating at designated places.”

“It’s like saying alcohol is banned, but you can drink at places we tell you to,” he said, a situation that amounted to a “State-sponsored heckler’s veto”. 

Rahman said a general right to liberty was guaranteed to every citizen—the preamble to the Constitution began with this. 

“So if you want to take away anybody’s right to do anything, it has to be backed by a law,” said Rahman, noting that in Assam the chief minister did not appear to have disclosed what law he had used to announce the ban. 

The passage of such a law would make the cattle trade virtually impossible, said Borthakur, because law-enforcement agencies were likely to interpret it arbitrarily and ambiguities in the announcement would encourage vigilantism. 

In August 2021, Article 14 reported how laws stopping the slaughter of cattle and sale of beef encouraged vigilantes.

“While legally there is no notification, or Act, or rule yet, many will not sell or serve beef out of fear,” said Borthakur.

That fear was already evident.

Atmosphere Of Fear

At around 3 pm on a Friday afternoon, many eateries in Guwahati’s Hatigaon area were almost empty. “This isn't usually the case,” said Safiqul Islam, the owner of Hotel Akash Noor, which offers cheap food and boarding. 

There were around 15 hotels in the Hatigaon area that sold beef thalis before the ban. “We’ve heard that they sealed shops in areas like Dispur and Jalukbari,” said Islam. “We are scared. We have decided to stop serving completely.” 

Many we interviewed said that the emphasis on the issue of “beef” by the Assam chief minister would create an atmosphere of fear in the minds of those associated with the cattle economy, as had happened elsewhere, particularly in north India (here, here and here). 

When Article14 visited Mughal Garden, a popular restaurant in Guwahati’s Islampur, a Muslim majority neighbourhood in Guwahati, Abdul Mosaddik, the manager said that the restaurant had stopped serving beef since 2021, when the government had banned the consumption of beef within a 5-km radius of a temple. 

“We don’t want to disregard the government’s orders,” said Mosaddik. “Even the nearby Sarania kabirstan (graveyard) committee has issued a notice that no one should be allowed to serve beef in the area.” 

At a small eatery near Mughal Garden, owner Fariz Ahmad Borbhuyan, who claimed it was the oldest in the area, said the ban would severely impact his business. “There are barely any customers now, less than half,” said Borbhuyan. “Yeh jagah hee beef ka hai (this place is known for beef).” 

“We have rent to pay, we have families to feed,” Borbhuyan said, as he prepared a curry with mutton, which is twice as expensive. “The government is not thinking about us at all.”

Rajib Sutradhar of NEHU said restaurants in minority dominated areas used to serve beef. “To that extent, the ban is going to create fear and anxiety among minorities,” he said.

“The economic impact will occur not because people will stop going to restaurants to eat beef,” said Bonojit Hussain, a researcher and farmer from the western Assam district of Nalbari. “It will happen because the atmosphere of fear around beef will intensify.”

‘It’s Killing Our Livelihood’

Musharaf Ali, 37, a farmer from the village of Mazdia in the western district of Barpeta, recalled when his family sold a bull to finance the marriage of his younger sister in 2016. 

In Assam, farmers and herders often use cattle as a resource to raise emergency capital for marriage, education, and medical care, said experts. 

“They are used as insurance,” said Bonojit Hussain, the researcher and farmer. “This has nothing to do with Hindus or Muslims—the logic applies to all villages, amongst all communities.”  

Kuli, the farmer from the indigenous Mising community said, “Banning beef means indirectly banning us—it’s killing our livelihood.”

Ali said his people sold bulls  for qurbani, the ritual sacrifice of cows by many poor and middle-class Muslims. “People who are well-off buy from us during qurbani,” said Ali, who added that prices usually started from Rs 45,000. “If it’s a big cow, then we can earn up to a lakh or a lakh and a half.” 

Ali said that after chief minister Sarma’s announcement, the price of cattle fell at the nearby weekly Kukarpar cattle market in Barpeta district. “A bull that was sold for Rs 50,000 has gone down to Rs 40,000,” he said.

Local news media in Assam reported that cattle herders in the eastern Assam district of Sivasagar faced financial hardship after the beef ban. 

There were far fewer buyers at the Rajmai cattle market, one of the oldest and largest in Assam, and livestock remained unsold, local media reported.

Businesses Are Hit 

Over the past couple of weeks, business had been down for Islam, the owner of Hatigaon’s Hotel Akash Noor, quoted earlier, and many others like him in the area. 

Islam’s hotel was known for serving beef thalis—beef with rice, dal and vegetables for Rs 120. “We used to have 500-200 people in a day,” Islam said, “At present, it’s barely 50 people in a day.”

Islam’s father opened the hotel around 20 years ago. The rent is now Rs 20,000. There are seven staffers, and their salaries range from Rs 15,000 to  Rs 20,000. 

Since the beef ban, Islam’s hotel has sold only chicken and fish. “We will have to abide by the rules of the government but we will face a lot of financial problems,” said Islam. “We will have to reduce our staff.” 

K, the meat seller, said generations of his family had been in the beef business. If he had to shut shop, he would not know what else to do, he said. 

K said he bought meat from neighbouring Meghalaya, where, as we said, slaughter of beef is legal. 

The meat is usually divided between three to four vendors. K said vigilante groups had previously caught and stopped him from carrying meat to his shop, even when there wasn’t a ban. “They demanded Rs 6,000, which I had to pay out of fear because I was alone,” K said.

K sold around 40 kg of beef to a nearby hotel alone. Now, the hotel has stopped serving beef, so K’s sales to them have ended. 

After the ban was announced, K kept his shop closed for five days. 

“I was scared,” he said. “It’s risky now to sell beef like this. The police might catch me anytime.” Yet, he continued, he added, because it was his “rozi-roti” (daily meal or livelihood).

Struggling For Alternatives

In Hatigaon, several small eateries that serve lunch and dinner were empty the day Article14 visited. 

The restaurants carried signs that read: “No Beef.”

In Islampur, Guwahati, where beef was sold in several roadside hotels, we found dejected owners. 

It had been more than three weeks since Atikur Rahman, who hails from the northern town of Mangaldoi, stopped serving beef at his roadside eatery. 

“It’s the government’s wish—they can do whatever they want,” said Rahman. “Those who want to eat will still eat, by stealing or hiding. But banning beef will not solve the state’s problems.”

Rahman used to earn around Rs 18,000 to 20,000 in a day before the beef ban. Now, he said, he earns about Rs 10,000 a day. He has two staff members whom he has to pay salaries to. 

Rahman said beef had always been the main attraction in his shop, which he started about two years ago. A beef thali or meal at Rahman’s shop consisted of rice, dal, sabzi (vegetables) and beef curry for Rs 120 per plate. 

He now serves chicken, fish and mutton. “But mutton, at Rs 800 per kg, compared to beef at Rs 400 per kg, is too expensive. “Neither us nor our customers can afford it,” said Rahman.

Primarily frequented by advocates, college students and daily wage workers, Rahman’s eatery was not visited only by Muslims, he said. “People from every community used to come here to eat beef.”

(Sanskrita Bharadwaj is an independent journalist from Assam.)

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