Several prominent Muslim organizations are rallying behind Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani’s demand to declare the cow the national animal ahead of Bakrid. Several organizations are advocating for an initiative to unite society on this issue, while others are also planning to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on this issue.
Several prominent Muslim organizations are rallying behind Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani’s demand to declare the cow the national animal ahead of Bakrid. Several organizations are advocating for an initiative to unite society on this issue, while others are also planning to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on this issue. This initiative is also significant because in the country’s most populous state, where Muslims are a significant population, these initiatives have often been led by Hindu organizations. This voice raised by the Muslim community on this last Bakrid before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2027 holds significance, as Muslim organizations hope it will put an end to the political exploitation of the issue of cow slaughter and incidents like mob lynching.
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, wholeheartedly supported Maulana Arshad Madani’s demand to declare the cow as the ‘national animal’. He told PTI that he would try to bring various Muslim organizations to a consensus on this issue. He said a meeting of key leaders from major Muslim organizations would be held in Delhi soon, where a joint charter of demands would be drafted and submitted to the country’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the government should immediately fulfill this demand, as this would not only bring uniformity to the government’s policies on cow slaughter across the country, but would also end mob lynchings and other atrocities committed in its name.
Siraj Qureshi, president of the All India Qureshi Jamaat, a leading organization of the Qureshi community, said that the issue of cow sacrifice before Bakrid has once again become a topic of political fervor, and the events unfolding in West Bengal are a recent example. He openly supported the demand to declare the cow a national animal and said that his organization would also meet with the Prime Minister regarding this matter if necessary. Qureshi said that his organization has been demanding the cow be declared the national animal for a long time, but no government has taken any concrete initiative in this direction.
Maulana Yasoob Abbas, National General Secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, said that the demand for the cow as the national animal is justified, but it is the government’s responsibility to act honestly on this issue. He said that the government should have such intentions regarding the cow that they reflect them in its policies, so that in some states beef is used freely in the diet and in others, people’s lives are taken in the name of the cow.
Kausar Hayat Khan, National Vice President of the All India Muslim League, also supported Maulana Arshad Madani’s demand, saying that this demand is technically correct and the government should implement it with complete sincerity. When asked about Muslim organizations coming together to strongly raise this demand, Khan said that this demand can only gain full traction if all Muslim organizations come together.
Maulana Rashid demanded uniformity in the law regarding cow slaughter across the country, saying that a uniform law against cow slaughter should be implemented across the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Responding to a question about the possibility of a coordinated effort by Muslim organizations to declare the cow a national animal, Maulana Khalid Rashid said that all religious organizations should come forward in this direction.
Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (AM group) president Maulana Arshad Madani, in a statement last Wednesday, a few days before Bakrid, the second major festival of Muslims, reiterated his long-standing demand that the cow should be given the status of a national animal and a provision should be made for strict action against those involved in the purchase and sale of cows for slaughter and in the trade of their meat.