Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved a proposal to ban the slaughter of cattle. The government said the law will now be placed before parliament for approval. It said the country does not have the cattle it needs for farming and the dairy industry, and that banning slaughter will benefit cattle-based dairying.

The country's beef trade and halal certification are controlled by Muslims, who will be hurt if cattle slaughter is banned. Some 70 per cent of Sri Lanka's population follow Buddhism, and 10 per cent are Muslims.

A ban on cattle slaughter was first proposed in Sri Lanka in 2009, when Wijedasa Rajapakse tabled a proposal in parliament. It was not adopted at the time. In 2012, however, the authorities in the city of Kandy banned cattle slaughter within the municipal area.

Citing the BBC.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.