A curfew last week after protests over a court ordering enforcement of beef ban
Amid anger and protests over a beef ban in Jammu and Kashmir, the state's main opposition party has decided to move a bill to bring changes in the law.
The National Conference has said that it will introduce a bill in the state assembly for changes in a 1932 law which bans the slaughter of cattle and the sale and purchase of beef.
The law had rarely been followed in the state but last week, the high court ordered the police to strictly enforce the ban, which led to protests.
"We are introducing a bill to decriminalise the sale and consumption of beef in Jammu and Kashmir," said National Conference leader Nasir Wani, a former minister.
The Congress says it will back the bill. "Ladakh people are beef eaters and nobody can decide what they should eat," said Rigzan Jora, a Congress lawmaker from Ladakh.
The National Conference, which lost power in last year's state polls, has also demanded that the state government bring an ordinance or executive order to allow the slaughter of cattle in the upcoming Bakr-id festival.
Independent lawmaker Engineer Rashid has also submitted a bill to reverse the beef ban.
The court's order last Wednesday led to an uproar and a strike call by separatists. A curfew was imposed as the government sought to check violence, and shops, business establishments and schools were closed across the Kashmir Valley.
The court had acted on a petition by the lawyer who was appointed deputy advocate general by the government six months ago.
Parmikosh Seth had filed the petition last year, but he pursued it even after his appointment as government counsel.
Sources in the state government say the situation poses a tough balancing act as ruling coalition partners Peoples Democratic Party and the BJP have opposing views on the beef ban.
The BJP has been confronting criticism over a temporary meat ban in five party-ruled states, for a Jain festival of fasting.