Some Sinhala-Buddhist groups had demanded a ban.
Sri Lanka has banned cattle slaughter after the Cabinet cleared Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent proposal, the government announced on Tuesday, adding that it would take steps to import beef.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rajapaksa made a proposal to the parliamentary group of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP, or People’s Front) on banning cattle slaughter. Legislators of the party had “applauded” when the proposal was made then, but it obtained official sanction following Cabinet approval.
For some years now, reactionary Sinhala-Buddhist groups, many of whom are supporters of the Rajapaksas, have been demanding a ban on cattle slaughter.
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority country, those following the religion constitute 70% of the country’s population. Most of them do not eat beef, as they consider…