Cabinet Minister Comingone Ymbon has taken exception to the nationwide call to ban cow slaughter and said nobody should come and interfere with the food habits of Meghalaya.
Reacting to the campaign against cow slaughter by the Jagatguru Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati of Jyotirmath, Ymbon said that India is a secular country and anyone is free to eat whatever they want.
“No one can interfere with our food habits,” the Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister asserted.
He said Meghalaya is a Christian majority state and beef is part of the food habits. “If people don’t want to eat beef they can choose to do so, but one’s belief and choice should not be forced upon another individual or state,” he said.
Ymbon also cited that if cow slaughter is banned it will affect the economy of the state, since cow breeders depend on it. “If cows are not sold they will die and go to waste. It’s not wise for these groups to try and force our people to stop cow slaughter,” he added.
The minister assured that he will raise the concerns of the people of the State and raise the issue with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma “not allow these people to interfere and carryout such campaign here.”
