The newly elected government of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which won a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections last month has decided to ban the slaughter of cows in Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa tabled the issue with his SLPP Parliamentary group on Tuesday (Sept 8).
Rajapaksa has submitted a proposal and he “hopes to ban cattle slaughter”.
Cabinet spokesperson and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that Rajapaksa would decide when he would submit the proposal to the government. Sri Lanka is a Buddhist-majority state and nearly 99% of people are meat-eaters, but the majority Hindus and Buddhists do not consume beef.
SLPP enjoys the support of the influential Buddhist monks, had put pressure on previous governments to ban cow slaughter for religious reasons. The SLPP received a lot of support from the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community and has openly said that it does not need to appease minority religious and ethnic groups to retain its power.
However, there is no ban imposed on the import of beef.
The Tamil dominated northern region of the island had witnessed protests led by Hindus two years ago demanding a complete ban on cow slaughter. It had got the support from the Sinhalese Buddhist-dominated central and southern Sri Lanka.