Day 6

Is India's beef ban red meat for the PM's base?

A growing number of Indian provinces are criminalizing the possession and sale of beef. The consumption of beef has long been a divisive issue in the country, and some think the crackdown is part of a Hindu nationalist agenda pushed forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A butcher cuts buffalo meat at a beef store in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. The government of the state of Maharashtra last week banned possession of beef and its byproducts and the slaughtering of cows, bulls and bullocks. (Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It's takes a lot of nerve to serve up a beef curry in India these days. Especially in the country's Haryana province where this week legislation made selling beef a criminal offence. And it's not just Haryana. Maharashtra, the country's largest province and home to Mumbai passed a law against the possession and sale of beef earlier this month. Some think this beef crackdown is all part of a Hindu nationalist agenda being pursued by the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shoaib Daniyal a writer for Scroll explains what's going on.