This tweet by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has put the stamp on #BeefBan. Anyone killing bulls or bullocks or even possessing beef, will now be fined and may land up spending five years in prison.

Let’s take a step back and analyse the ban.

Dalit activist and writer Prof. Kancha Ilaiah says the cow is not indigenous to India. The Aryans got them to India as food. It is the buffalo which actually belongs to India and if anything should be preserved. Yet, as Prof. Ilaiah says, it is the buffalo which faces discrimination: just because it’s black.

Racism aside, has the Maharashtra Government thought of how the poor will be affected by this ban? Tribals, dalits and poor Muslims all rely on beef which provides them with a cheap protein alternative. And what about those in the leather trade? How will they earn a living?