The crackdown on ‘illegal’ slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath government has forced meat shop owners in Muzaffarnagar to turn to other alternatives like selling tea and running provision stores.
With most meat shops being sealed by authorities, sellers allege that they are out of business. Nazakat is still learning to master the art of making kadak chai, a skill that his patrons say isn’t really his forte. He used to run a meat shop, but that was before the new BJP government come to power in UP. With uncertainty looming over the future of his shop, Nazakat is now making little money to make ends meet.
Nazakat’s story is not an exception. Haji Aseed’s family had been running meat shop for decades before it was asked to shut down. With more than five members in the family dependent upon him, Aseed has now turned to running a provision store. The transition from meat to candies, he says, hasn’t been an easy one.
Traders feel their livelihoods were snatched away without a plan B being thought of by the government. They feel the government should have come up with alternatives, rather than just ordering meat shops shut under the guise of ‘illegality’.
Meanwhile, meat shops have been closed in Jharkhand’s Ranchi as well. Earlier on Tuesday, Shiv Sena workers allegedly ordered the closure of meat shops in Gurugram on the occasion of Navratri.
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)