Now foreigners can eat beef in Haryana as state govt mulls special permit

New Delhi: Foreigners who have a special craving for beef and live in Haryana will soon be able to gorge on their favourite meat as the government is considering to issue special permits for such people in the state.

According to the Indian Express newspaper, the Haryana government is working on a proposal to issue beef licenses to foreigners in the state.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Khattar is reportedly open to giving special relaxation to foreigners who want to eat beef in the state.

Currently a strict beef ban is in place in the state keeping in mind the religious sentiments of the people.

“If we have to work out some facility for them (foreigners) to be able to (consume beef)… we will do it. It could be a special licence… (as) whatever is licensed, no one can oppose (under) the law,” the report quoted Khattar as saying.

“Everyone has a personal lifestyle for eating and drinking, especially those who come from abroad… we don’t have any opposition to that. In fact, we are not opposing this for anyone,” Khattar added.

In a controversial statement in October in 2015, Khattar was quoted as saying that “Muslims will have to give up eating beef if they wanted to live in India”.

In March last year, the Haryana government had passed the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan legislation that strictly bans cow slaughter.

As per the law, cow slaughter in Haryana will invite rigorous imprisonment ranging from three to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.

Any person who attempts to export cows for slaughter would be imprisoned for not less than three years and up to seven years.