Meat traders in north India end strike on local gov't assurances

Meat traders in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh have called off their four-day strike on assurances from local government that unlicensed slaughter houses or meat shops run mainly by Muslims would not be targeted or shut down.

The decision to end the ongoing strike was taken following a meeting between the meat traders and the state's Hindu hardline Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"We have decided to call off strike after assurance from chief minister that the state government will provide full protection to us from self vigilant groups," President of All India Jamiat-ul Quresh (association of butchers) in Uttar Pradesh Haji Yusuf Qureshi told Xinhua by telephone.

Qureshi said the government has agreed to renew licenses of meat shop owners.

Strike in the state began in protest to attacks on meat shops and slaughterhouses considered unlicensed.

With a population of 200 million, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India. Muslims who are mostly associated with the trade of selling meat constitute 18 percent of the state's population.

"So many misconceptions and rumors have been spread that cows are slaughtered in abattoirs, which is totally baseless," Qureshi said. "Not only Muslims but Hindus also are associated with the meat trade and only goats and buffalos are slaughtered. Nobody kills cows as all of us know that is illegal and warrants punishment."

India's Hindu majority consider cow to be sacred, and its slaughtering is banned in most Indian states.

Adityanath was made head of Uttar Pradesh by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following landslide victory of Bhartiya Janta Party in recent local elections. The ruling party opposes slaughter and consumption of cows.

Reports said after taking office of chief minister a crack down on unlicensed slaughterhouses and abattoirs was announced by describing them "illegal."

Uttar Pradesh is the largest meat-producing state in India and the industry is estimated to be 1.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile in western state of Gujarat, the home state of Modi, lawmakers of his ruling party Friday passed a stringent law making cow slaughter and its transportation punishable with life imprisonment, the harsh measure aimed at protecting cows.

Earlier, the maximum punishment had been a seven-year jail term.

Local elections are due by year-end in Gujarat.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2002 and is blamed for doing little to stop religious riots at that time. Modi always denied any wrongdoing during riots.

The riots considered to be the worst since Indian independence triggered after a train fire at Godhra killed 58 Hindu pilgrims. Muslim were blamed for setting up the train coach on fire and following it Hindu mobs in revenge rampaged the Muslim areas in towns and villages of Gujarat for three days. Endit