The Karnataka Assembly passed the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2010 on Friday, Mar 19, making cow slaughter a punishable and a non-bailable offense.

With this, Karnataka joins the list of states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir, which have already banned cow slaughter.

The Bill was passed in the Karnataka Assembly after four hours of debate.

There was total chaos in the House as the Opposition parties Congress and JDS protested against the Bill pushed by ‘communal’ BJP government. The members of the opposition rushed to the well of the House and raised anti-government slogans.

Dubbing the legislation ‘draconian’, ‘anti-secular’ and ‘unconstitutional’, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah registered his serious objection to it. He even tore the copy of the Bill and threw it in the air.

Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, earlier, defended the bill saving that his government was only keen on passage of this bill to protect and preserve the cattle of Karnataka.

While the animal rights activists have always backed the ban on cow slaughter, there are other sections of the society which oppose it as it is seen as an Hindu imposition in a country that boasts of its multi-religious and multi-cultural society.