Hindu nationalists in India step up attacks on beef industry
Cows are sacred to Hindus and activists are seeking to disrupt business, despite India being the world's second biggest exporter of beef
Hindu nationalists in India have stepped up attacks on the beef industry, seizing trucks with cattle bound for abattoirs and blockading meat processing plants in their effort to halt the trade in the world's second-biggest exporter.
The industry is predominantly run by Muslim traders and some groups in the majority Hindu population vehemently oppose it due to the revered status of cows. Beef traders fear that elements in the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be condoning the latest protests.
There has been a surge of raids this month. An official at a beef transport group in Maharashtra state said around 10 vehicles travelling to Mumbai had been stopped, the animals taken forcefully and drivers beaten by Hindu nationalists despite carrying valid documents.
"We are doing everything legally, but these people harass us and disrupt our work for no reason," said Mohammad Shahid Sheikh, president of the beef transporters' group in Deonar, the site of India's biggest abattoir on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Despite the sensitivities over the trade, India has become the world's top beef exporter behind Brazil. Traders said the current attacks had not caused major disruption, but if they were to become nationwide could threaten the lucrative business.
A majority of India's beef comes from buffaloes, which are not worshipped, but members of Hindu nationalist groups involved in protests such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) consider themselves protectors of both cows and buffaloes.
Some of these groups have close links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Modi, who himself criticised the previous government for promoting a "pink revolution to butcher cattle and export meat".