Help those affected by crackdown on abattoirs or face protest: AIMIM tells Yogi govt

Allahabad: The AIMIM's city unit on Monday demanded that "alternative arrangements" be made ahead of the Eid festival by the Yogi Adityanath administration for those adversely affected by the recent crackdown on illegal slaughter houses.

At a meeting convened here, the All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen's city convener, Afsar Mahmood, said if the state government failed to act, then all party workers here would boycott Eid celebrations and observe a protest on the day by wearing black badges.

"Our protest enjoys the full support of the Qureishi community which has been badly hit by the high-handedness of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Let the administration be forewarned that its inability to redress our grievances in time may lead to a massive public stir after the festivities, in which thousands will court arrest," Mahmood said.

The crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses across the state came soon after the BJP came to power in UP in March this year.

In its manifesto for the assembly polls, the party had promised closure of all unlicensed abattoirs and a ban on mechanised ones.

Headed by the firebrand Owaisi brothers of Hyderabad, the AIMIM has been trying to make its presence felt in UP, where parties traditionally favoured by the Muslim community -- the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP -- appear to be in decline.