Beef for Export, Lynchings at Home: SDPI Slams Modi Regime’s Cow Politics

Elyas Muhammad Thumbe, National General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India, strongly condemns the blatant hypocrisy of the BJP-led Modi regime in handling India’s beef export industry. Before assuming power in 2014, Narendra Modi vehemently criticized the Congress government’s “Pink Revolution,” accusing it of promoting beef exports to appease minorities. He promised to end this trade, portraying it as an affront to Hindu sentiments. Yet, under his rule, India has become the world’s second-largest beef exporter, with shipments projected to reach 1.65 million metric tons in 2025—a 4% increase from 2024 and a staggering 16% rise since 2014. This lucrative sector generates over $4 billion annually, primarily from buffalo meat, but with rampant smuggling and lax enforcement blurring lines between cow and buffalo slaughter.

Ironically, major exporters like Al-Kabeer Exports are Hindu-owned, and the regime awards them for performance while subsidizing Halal-certified exports to Muslim-majority nations. Domestically, however, BJP states ban Halal products and unleash gau rakshak vigilantism, leading to lynchings of Muslims and Dalits over mere suspicions of beef possession. This double standard exposes the BJP’s cynical politics: exploiting cow protection for votes while profiting from the very trade they decry. Electoral bonds reveal BJP receiving crores from beef exporters, further unmasking their moral bankruptcy.