Cattle slaughter ban and beef import OK!

According to the latest news both in the print and electronic media, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to ban the slaughter of cattle but allow the import of beef. Whilst fully endorsing the steps being taken to ban the slaughter of cattle, I would suggest that he should also include other animals such as pigs, goats, deer, rabbits, etc as well, to be fair by the other quadrupeds. How about including even the bipeds – fowls, ducks, turkey, doves?

By importing beef, aren’t we encouraging slaughter in another country? How hypocritical are we by allowing the import of beef? How prudent is it to import beef when we should curtail imports and save invaluable foreign exchange at present, as the economy is in the doldrums as a result of the Covid pandemic? Isn’t it possible that we may get contaminated stuff of tinned beef similar to the DCD issue that we had with the powdered milk?

The ultimate aim of all governments in the world is to achieve on behalf of its people a healthy population, reduction of poverty, etc., which are some of the sustainable goals of the UN. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also envisages a productive citizenry, a happy family, a disciplined society and a prosperous nation as per his manifesto “Saubhagya Dekma” – Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour.

Therefore, I suggest that we even ban liquor and cigarettes (one of the Pancha Seela is to refrain from self-intoxication through alcohol or drugs) to achieve the above objectives. Sri Lankans will then be healthy and the State can make an enormous saving on the expenditure incurred on health. None of the monks nor the ulemas or the members of the medical fraternity will raise any objection to this move. Avoiding paying homage to Bacchus we, Sri Lankans, will be then even more COVID resistant or for that matter any other pandemic diseases that may strike us in the future!

MOHAMED ZAHRAN

Colombo