AAP leader Isudan Gadhvi claims PM Modi is not Hindu and the govt exports beef: Read how the Gujarat politician is exposing his ignorance
A few days ago, a video of Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat state president Isudan Gadhvi making outrageous claims about beef exports went viral on social media. In the video, Isudan is giving a ‘non-Hindu’ certificate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also claiming that the Modi government slaughters cows and calves and exports their meat abroad. This, however, is far from true and is evidently a propaganda peddled by the AAP leader to attack PM Modi’s Hindu credentials. “I also want to tell Narendra Modi that I do not consider him a Hindu. I am saying publicly that I do not consider him a Hindu. Because a person who sends cows to slaughterhouses, exports their meat, earns from it and makes lotuses with that income cannot be a Hindu,” Gadhvi said in the undated video. In addition, he also tried to target BJP workers, saying that BJP workers should do penance, because the lotuses they go to inaugurate are made of cow meat.” Cow slaughter and beef export banned in India Contrary to the claim by Isudan Gadhvi that Modi government exports cow beef, cow slaughter is not a common commercial activity in India, in fact, it has been discouraged at the constitutional level. Article 48 of the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution clearly tells the states to take steps to ban the killing of cows and calf. Based on this same constitutional directive, today there is a legal ban on the slaughter of cows and their offspring (bulls, calves, etc.) in India. Many states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have completely banned cow slaughter by enacting laws. In Gujarat, the Bombay Animal Preservation Act and its amendments of 2011 and 2017 not only completely prohibits the slaughter of cows, calves, and bulls, but after the 2017 amendment, there is also a provision of life imprisonment for illegal cow slaughter. Recently, a court in Amreli sentenced three accused to life imprisonment in a case of illegal cow slaughter. The ‘cow beef’ export allegation levelled by Isudan Gadhvi is mainly based on two things: India is the leading country in ‘beef export’ in the world. He has directly called ‘beef’ ‘goulash’ and then turned it into the Modi government’s ‘cow slaughter policy’. It is clearly written in the Foreign Trade Policy and DGFT’s (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) export policy documents that the export of beef (cow, bull and veal) is prohibited. This has been reiterated on the floor of Parliament time and again. In a written reply to a question on ‘EXPORT OF BEEF’ in the Lok Sabha on 14 March 2016, the then Minister of State for Commerce (Nirmala Sitharaman) had said, “As per the current Foreign Trade Policy, export of beef (cow, bull and veal) is prohibited. Only export of buffalo, goat and mutton is permitted and that too is considered beef.” In 2015, 17, 19 and 20, in response to different questions, the government has reiterated the same thing that beef, veal, and cow meat, i.e. cow-beef, are in the ‘prohibited‘ category in the export policy, while exports are only legally permitted trade of buffalo, goat and mutton meat. Earlier, notorious propagandist YouTuber Dhruv Rathee had also claimed that ‘India is the top beef exporter in the world.’ This is partly true statistically, but there is a trick of language and definition here. The official website of India’s Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the Red Meat Manual clearly state that India exports only deboned and de-gland frozen buffalo meat. Not cow meat, but buffalo meat, which is called carabeef in international trade. The ‘beef export’ figures shown in India are not cow beef, but buffalo meat. Legally, cow meat is not on the export list, so the claim that ‘Modi is slaughtering cows and selling beef’ proves to be completely irresponsible and baseless. The word ‘Beef’, the prevailing confusion and its misuse to peddle lies against the Modi government There is misconception that beef means cow meat; that is not the case, as FSSAI defines beef as the edible portion of bovine animals including buffaloes. Therefore, Beef means the edible portion of bovine animals including buffaloes. In legal language, ‘beef’ includes both cow and buffalo meat. International statistics (UN, FAO) also do not differentiate between cow and buffalo in the ‘Beef’ category. As a result, India exports 100% buffalo meat (carabeef), which is shown in the graph as ‘Beef Export’. However, the same statistics are being used by anti-BJP parties as propaganda by falsely claiming that Modi government allows export of ‘beef’, that is cow meat, while reality, the buffalo meat is exported. Yesudas Gadhvi is also working to give air to the same propaganda. In short, this trickery of words is playing with people’s emotions. There is a statement by a leader (of AAP), who deliberately ignores all these nuances and jumps to the direct conclusi
A few days ago, a video of Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat state president Isudan Gadhvi making outrageous claims about beef exports went viral on social media. In the video, Isudan is giving a ‘non-Hindu’ certificate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also claiming that the Modi government slaughters cows and calves and exports their meat abroad. This, however, is far from true and is evidently a propaganda peddled by the AAP leader to attack PM Modi’s Hindu credentials.
“I also want to tell Narendra Modi that I do not consider him a Hindu. I am saying publicly that I do not consider him a Hindu. Because a person who sends cows to slaughterhouses, exports their meat, earns from it and makes lotuses with that income cannot be a Hindu,” Gadhvi said in the undated video.
In addition, he also tried to target BJP workers, saying that BJP workers should do penance, because the lotuses they go to inaugurate are made of cow meat.”
Cow slaughter and beef export banned in India
Contrary to the claim by Isudan Gadhvi that Modi government exports cow beef, cow slaughter is not a common commercial activity in India, in fact, it has been discouraged at the constitutional level. Article 48 of the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution clearly tells the states to take steps to ban the killing of cows and calf.
Based on this same constitutional directive, today there is a legal ban on the slaughter of cows and their offspring (bulls, calves, etc.) in India. Many states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have completely banned cow slaughter by enacting laws.
In Gujarat, the Bombay Animal Preservation Act and its amendments of 2011 and 2017 not only completely prohibits the slaughter of cows, calves, and bulls, but after the 2017 amendment, there is also a provision of life imprisonment for illegal cow slaughter. Recently, a court in Amreli sentenced three accused to life imprisonment in a case of illegal cow slaughter.
The ‘cow beef’ export allegation levelled by Isudan Gadhvi is mainly based on two things: India is the leading country in ‘beef export’ in the world. He has directly called ‘beef’ ‘goulash’ and then turned it into the Modi government’s ‘cow slaughter policy’. It is clearly written in the Foreign Trade Policy and DGFT’s (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) export policy documents that the export of beef (cow, bull and veal) is prohibited.
This has been reiterated on the floor of Parliament time and again. In a written reply to a question on ‘EXPORT OF BEEF’ in the Lok Sabha on 14 March 2016, the then Minister of State for Commerce (Nirmala Sitharaman) had said, “As per the current Foreign Trade Policy, export of beef (cow, bull and veal) is prohibited. Only export of buffalo, goat and mutton is permitted and that too is considered beef.”
In 2015, 17, 19 and 20, in response to different questions, the government has reiterated the same thing that beef, veal, and cow meat, i.e. cow-beef, are in the ‘prohibited‘ category in the export policy, while exports are only legally permitted trade of buffalo, goat and mutton meat.
Earlier, notorious propagandist YouTuber Dhruv Rathee had also claimed that ‘India is the top beef exporter in the world.’ This is partly true statistically, but there is a trick of language and definition here. The official website of India’s Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the Red Meat Manual clearly state that India exports only deboned and de-gland frozen buffalo meat. Not cow meat, but buffalo meat, which is called carabeef in international trade.
The ‘beef export’ figures shown in India are not cow beef, but buffalo meat. Legally, cow meat is not on the export list, so the claim that ‘Modi is slaughtering cows and selling beef’ proves to be completely irresponsible and baseless.
The word ‘Beef’, the prevailing confusion and its misuse to peddle lies against the Modi government
There is misconception that beef means cow meat; that is not the case, as FSSAI defines beef as the edible portion of bovine animals including buffaloes. Therefore, Beef means the edible portion of bovine animals including buffaloes.
In legal language, ‘beef’ includes both cow and buffalo meat. International statistics (UN, FAO) also do not differentiate between cow and buffalo in the ‘Beef’ category. As a result, India exports 100% buffalo meat (carabeef), which is shown in the graph as ‘Beef Export’.
However, the same statistics are being used by anti-BJP parties as propaganda by falsely claiming that Modi government allows export of ‘beef’, that is cow meat, while reality, the buffalo meat is exported. Yesudas Gadhvi is also working to give air to the same propaganda. In short, this trickery of words is playing with people’s emotions.
There is a statement by a leader (of AAP), who deliberately ignores all these nuances and jumps to the direct conclusion that ‘Modi is not a Hindu because he exports beef.’ Accusations and counter-accusations are common in politics, but when a leader creates a full-blown debate by targeting a sensitive sentiment like that of Gaumata, it is not called ‘politics’, it is clearly called propaganda.
As for the ‘certificate of being a Hindu or not’, then look at the old deeds and statements of Jesus Gadhvi Gopal Italy, look at Kejriwal’s statements on Ram temple. ‘Not considering Modi a Hindu’ will not change the reality. The reason why crores of Hindus of the country are standing by Modi today is also the faith of Hindus.
