According to Asaduddin Owaisi, not just the illegal abattoirs, but legal ones were being sealed.
AIMIM President and Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said the Uttar Pradesh government should give time to illegal abattoirs for regularisation instead of just recklessly sealing them. "It is the fault of the previous Samajwadi Party government that did not regularise the slaughterhouses. Now, the government should give them time for regularisation instead of sealing them," Mr Owaisi said outside Parliament.
According to him, not just the illegal abattoirs which were being sealed, but the legal ones also.
"If the government can give time to black money hoarders to declare their money and regularise it, why can't it give time to slaughterhouses for regularisation? It means they are targeting a particular community."
Mr Owaisi said India's buffalo meat exports are valued at Rs 26,000 crore and around half of the exporting units are based in Uttar Pradesh.
"Such reckless step by the government will result in economic disruption. Does the government want to stop these exports? Around five to 10 lakh people will be rendered unemployed by this step," Mr Owaisi said.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief said the government had no right to dictate what one should eat and what one should not.
He said the capacity of legal abattoirs should be enhanced to meet the demand.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)