Barelvi cleric wants blanket ban on cow slaughter, writes to Narendra Modi

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He added that next month, he will stage a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand a ban on cow slaughter. Khan also claimed that he will make cow slaughter ban the first issue of his campaign to save ‘Jal, Jungal and Jaanwar’.

“For launching our campaign, we will stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar where the cow slaughter issue will be the priority. We are also inviting people from all faiths to attend our programme. Many leading faces of other religions have contacted me and assured me of their support,” he said.

Khan, who traces his lineage from Aala Hazrat — the supreme leader of Barelvi sect among Muslims — substantiated his demand on the basis of Islamic teachings.

“There is ‘Hadees’ in our religion that Prophet has termed cow meat as a source of disease and milk having healing power. We need not look any further on this subject,” he said.

Further, Khan said that cleric Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi — a freedom fighter who reportedly was hanged in 1861 by the British — had demanded that culprits of cow slaughter should be killed by tying them to a canon. “Is any more clarification required that cow slaughter and eating its meat is not mandatory for Muslims?” he added.

The Barelvi cleric, whose outfit IMC, had won one Assembly seat in the 2012 state polls, claimed that cow slaughter occurs because of the presence of modern slaughter houses.

“These slaughter houses get cows for cheap and slaughter them for beef. Muslims are suffering because to it. One cannot say with authenticity that meat from slaughter houses is halal. Better to close these slaughter houses and cow slaughtering itself will vanish,” said Khan.

“When it is said that it leads to illness, there is no point eating it. It also creates communal tension and the end sufferers are Muslims,” he added.