After Arunachal’s Naharlagun, Assam to ban word ‘beef’ in hoardings? Himanta Biswa Sarma answers

Tamo Dada, a bureaucrat from Arunachal Pradesh, triggered a controversy by passing an order banning the word “beef” on eatery hoardings.

Although the order has been kept in abeyance owing to a massive outcry, the controversy continues to linger on.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was recently asked about his opinion on this raging issue during a visit to Arunachal’s Namsai to discuss a border row. 

Asked if Assam too will impose such rules, Biswa Sarma diplomatically said: "Every Northeastern state has different rituals. In Arunachal Pradesh, we have a beef eating community. The BJP will never interfere in food habits. But in Assam, the situation is different. In Hindu eating areas, people do not eat beef. That law has been in place right from the time of independence. But in some places where Muslims and other communities live, they eat beef there. Assam had enacted a law in the time of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi."

Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950, a cow protection law, was enacted during the tenure of Bordoloi, who was the state’s first Chief Minister. It was replaced by the Assam Cattle Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2021 on the ground that the latter lacked sufficient legal provisions to regulate the slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle.

While Assam is a Hindu-majority state, Arunachal Pradesh has a majority (30.26%) Christian population. As per the 2011 census, the frontier state has 401,876 Hindus (29.04% of the population).

On the other hand, Dada seems to have found a sympathizer in Arunachal Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein.

"It (the order) did not say that one cannot consume beef. But there is no hotel called beef hotel, chicken hotel, fish hotel. Every hotel has a name," Mein, who represents the Chowkham Constituency in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, opined on the situation.

Tamo Dada later retracted the order banning the word ‘beef’ on the signboards of hotels and restaurants amid massive backlash in the state.

Following criticism, Dada issued a fresh order, stating that the earlier order, which had barred the use of the word ‘beef’, has been “kept in abeyance till further order.”

The magistrate claimed that he has received “representations from various quarters regarding the order and in view of reports” and it is being kept in abeyance till further orders.

Dada in his initial order claimed that the word ‘beef’ on the signboards of hotels and restaurants “may hurt the sentiments of some sections of the community and may create animosity between different groups.”

He gave the eatery owners till July 18 to “remove such word” failing to do which would attract a fine of Rs 2,000.
As soon as the order went viral on social media, it triggered a backlash from several sections of society.