The South Bengal Frontier of the BSF has written to its headquarters seeking financial assistance for the upkeep of the bovines.
PASHUDHAN PRAHAREE NETWORK
Kolkata: The election machinery of Narendra Modi and the BJP has made a campaign plank of cow protection, but hundreds of bovine animals saved from smugglers face death and disease on the India-Bangladesh border in the absence of proper upkeep.
The cattle heads were seized by the Border Security Force (BSF), which guards the international border, when they were allegedly being smuggled to Bangladesh for possible slaughter.
According to official BSF records accessed by ThePrint, as many as 25,294 bovine animals, mostly cows, were seized at the border between 1 November 2018 and 31 July 2019 — an average of 2,800 a month.
Of these, 6,648 cattle heads were taken by two NGOs, while 7,445 were given to a local common shelter at villages (‘khor’ in local parlance). As of now, the outposts along the border are hosting 2,336 bovine animals, nearly 2,000 of them cows, after 711 died unattended.
BSF sources said the bovines sent to the khors generally enter the smuggling racket again, a process the force calls “recycling”.
“We have at least 2,500 to 3,000 cattle heads stranded at several BOPs (border outposts). The BSF takes care of them and feeds them,” said BSF South Bengal Frontier deputy inspector general S.S. Guleria.
“We are yet to get any financial assistance for this purpose separately. Everything is being managed by the force as of now. An NGO, Dhyan Foundation, is taking the cattle for care and maintenance,” he added.
Ill equipped to tend to the animals, the BSF has written to their brass in Delhi for funds, but is yet to get a response two months on. Amid this silence, the animals continue to wait for freedom from their oppressive living conditions.
Caught between two PCA Act & Customs Act
The roots of this standoff can be traced to the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Rules and the PCA Act, which govern how a seized animal is to be dealt with.
Until 2018, cattle heads seized from smugglers were auctioned by customs authorities as seizures at the border fell under the Customs Act. However, that year, the customs department cited a 2017 Supreme Court order, which “directed that the sale of cattle would be made in consonance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Rules 2017”, to give up the responsibility.
Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, neither the customs department nor the BSF is authorised to carry out the auction.
In a letter dated 1 November 2018 to all zonal heads in the eastern and northeastern region, customs commissioner (RI&I) said the seizures and auctions fell under the mandate of state police. All the cattle seized, the letter added, should thus be handed over to West Bengal Police.
“The Supreme Court, in its order in August 2017, directed that the sale of cattle would be made in consonance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Rules 2017 (sic),” the letter said, “Customs officers are, however, not empowered under the provisions of the PCA rules or the PCA Act.”
The zonal chiefs were consequently directed “to discontinue auction of seized cattle so as to comply with the order of the apex court”.
With the customs department putting the onus of the auction on the state police, a senior West Bengal police officer told ThePrint that they could only accept cattle if the BSF also registered a case of smuggling with them.
“We can only take the cattle into our custody and auction them if the BSF lodges a case with us and hands over the smugglers to us,” the officer added. “They do in many cases, but in some cases smugglers run away and the BSF only manages to rescue the cattle. In these cases, we cannot take the cattle into our custody.”
BY-
MADHUPARNA DAS Updated: 12 August,https://theprint.in
