Lucknow,

24 May (HS): Several Muslim groups are uniting in support of Maulana Arshad

Madani, head of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (Arshad Madani faction), who has called

for the cow to be declared the 'national animal'. Muslim organizations hope

that this decision would reduce the political exploitation of cow slaughter and

put a stop to mob lynchings and other crimes committed in its name. While many

are lobbying for steps to develop community agreement on this subject, some

plan to meet with the prime minister and chief minister. This endeavor is

especially significant because, in the country's most populous state, which

also has a sizable Muslim minority, such requests have always come from Hindu

organizations.

This

Muslim community voice, raised on the penultimate Eid-ul-Azha before the 2027

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, has its own unique meaning. Maulana

Shahabuddin Razvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat,

enthusiastically endorsed Madani's desire to make the cow the 'National Animal'.

He stated that his goal would be to reach an agreement among various Muslim

groups on this issue. To that purpose, important delegates from significant

Muslim groups will gather in Delhi soon to create a united memorandum of

demands, which would then be given to the country's top leadership, including

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He

asserted that the government should meet this demand immediately, as doing so

would not only bring consistency to the government's policies regarding cow

slaughter across the country, but would also help eradicate incidents of mob

lynching and other acts of oppression committed in the name of cow slaughter. Siraj

Qureshi, President of the All India Qureshi Jamaat, an organization of the

Qureshi community involved in meat trade, stated that the issue of cow

sacrifice has once again become a hot topic in political circles ahead of

Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid), with the recent events in West Bengal serving as the

latest example of this trend. He openly supported the call to proclaim the cow

the national animal and stated that, if required, his group would seek a

meeting with the prime minister on the subject.

Qureshi

stated that his organization has always advocated for the recognition of the

cow as the national animal. However, so far, no government has made any

significant steps in this regard. Speaking on the issue, Maulana Yasoob Abbas,

National General Secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, stated

that while the demand to proclaim the cow as the national animal is genuine, it

is the government's job to act on it with seriousness. He said that the

government's intentions surrounding the cow should be clearly represented in

its regulations, assuring a consistent approach, rather than a situation in

which cows are devoured without limitation in certain places while lives are

taken in the name of the cow in others.

Kausar

Hayat Khan, National Vice President of the Indian Union Muslim League, endorsed

Madani's demand, saying it is technically solid and that the government should

fulfill it with complete seriousness. When asked about Muslim groups joining on

a unified platform to firmly press this demand, Khan stated that this cause

could only get traction if all Muslim organisations united together. Khan

criticized the government's animal regulations, noting that beef is still

consumed without restriction in Goa, Assam, and other northeastern regions. He

emphasized the irony that the majority of these states are ruled by the same

Bharatiya Janata Party, which, in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as now

in West Bengal, takes a different approach by politicizing the problem of cow

slaughter.

Maulana

Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali, senior executive member of the All India Muslim

Personal Law Board, stated that because our Hindu siblings have religious

sensitivities for cows, the cow should be recognized a national animal. Maulana

Rashid demanded that a single, consistent law prohibiting cow slaughter be

enforced countrywide. In response to a query on the likelihood of a coordinated

campaign by Muslim organisations to have the cow proclaimed the national

animal, he stated that all religious organisations should step forward in this

respect. Maulana Arshad Madani, President of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (AM

group), restated his long-standing demand in a statement released last Wednesday,

only days before Bakrid, the second important Muslim holiday.

He

said that the cow should be designated as a national animal, and that stringent

penalties should be imposed on individuals who buy and sell cows for slaughter,

as well as those who trade in cow flesh. Maulana Kaab Rashidi, the legal

counsel for the organization's Uttar Pradesh section, emphasized that this

demand is not new, noting that Madani made a similar demand during an All-Faith

Conference in Mumbai in 2014. He stated that in recent years, many Hindu

organizations have strengthened their calls for the cow to be declared the

national animal. However, the administration does not appear to have made any

significant progress in this area.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi