The current tragedy of this country is those who are not domain experts have begun to give expert opinions on every issue. Those who do not even have primary knowledge of science speak about science, politicians talk about economics and street rowdies speak about dharma and culture with clubs in their hands.

RBI is the best example of how politicians with no economic knowledge have messed with the country’s systems and damaged it to a large extent. Supreme Court gives out contradicting verdicts because anti-constitutional elements decide who should disseminate justice.

Saffron-flaunting men like Yogi who do not have any experience in farming or cattle rearing, are deciding on who the cattle should be sold to, and how one would take care of them. As a result of this, dairy farming has collapsed in the rural areas and schools are turning into cow shelters.

The result of priestly class’s conspiracy to take dairy farming into their own hands by turning it into a dharmic task than an economic option, is showing on the country’s psyche. The Yogi government has been creating baseless schemes to protect the cows such as cow ambulance, cow shelters in schools, cow protection forces manned by goondas, etc.

Cattle rearing is on a downhill in Uttar Pradesh owing to the government taking away the rights of farmers who cared for these cattle. They are getting transported to slaughter houses on the sly. The cattle that are found on the streets are being tethered at schools and hospitals.

Uttar Pradesh government is basically concerned about cattle on the street instead of caring for people and their welfare. All agrarian aspects are linked to one another. Since cattle rearing and agriculture went hand in hand owing to dependency on tilling, the animals were domesticized.

The cattle waste was the best fertilizer for the land. The dung, the urine everything enriched the nutrients in the land. The returns from this could help farmers balance their maintenance costs. Now with cultivable land being less, cattle have less utility for such purposes any more since most of the agricultural activity happens based on machines and automobiles.

Just the way as the farmers were part of agriculture, even the beef consumers contributed their bit to complete the food chain and keep the economy going. The cattle that have outlived their time and utility are being given up for beef consumers.

This serves two purposes. One would be the expenses part would come down where the cattle was to be cared for even when there are no definite returns, and the second was an economical benefit that involved selling them. This money would be used to buy new cattle, and the business would grow further expanding the scope of farming.

More than this, those who worship cows are not too keen on rearing them or taking care of them. The farmers who rear cattle worship them annually as part of their paying respect to the animals that help their lives.

Cattle, to farmers, are like currency. If there are two extra cattle, the money one gets by selling them would be used for a marriage or house maintenance or anything else that would serve the purpose for the moment. This is a constant economic activity. Dairy farming is turning upside down with priestly class claiming this activity is more of a devotion than of economic one.

The farmers who were at the forefront had to move back, owing to the goondas of Sangh Parivar who took the centre stage. The Gau Rakshaks now decide who the cattle would be sold to, even beyond its owner. The act brought about by the government against selling the cattle is more like second round of demonetization.

Ironically, no one has to take care of these cattle that had gone beyond utility. They would have turned into food and provided nourishment to the society. This would have ensured nutrition to the poor.

Owing to this government policy, the poor are deprived of nutritious food. And the farmers lost the income they’d get by selling the aged cattle. All these expenses are now on the government now. The money that could have been spent for people, schools and public health and other supporting systems had to be used for creating facilities for the cattle and failed even in that.

Many cattle died owing to bad maintenance in Gaushalas which turned profitable to others, but not to the poor farmer who took care of the cattle. Dairy farming thus suffered a huge blow.

The government needs to wake up now at least and encourage beef consumption and provide impetus to dairy farming. Cattle should be declared the property of farmers who rear them, in clear and loud messaging. The money that’s being spent on Gaushala should be used for improvement of schools and hospitals. This way, both the farmers and cattle would be spared.

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Jammu/Srinagar (PTI): The Pakistan Army continued shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in four sectors of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting a befitting response by the Indian Army, officials said on Thursday.

Compared to Wednesday, when the Pakistan Army carried out one of the most intense artillery and mortar shelling in years targeting the forward villages in J-K following missile strikes by India as part of 'Operation Sindoor', the intensity of cross-border firing was less and restricted to four sectors on Thursday, the officials said.

"On the intervening night of May 7 and 8, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing using small arms and artillery guns across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri and Akhnoor sectors in J-K. The Indian Army responded proportionately," a defence spokesman said in Jammu.

The officials said there was no report of any casualties in the skirmishes.

The worst-hit Poonch sector in Jammu, which recorded 13 deaths in Wednesday's intense shelling, remained by and large peaceful at night, they said.

Hundreds of border residents have already moved to safer areas in view of the flare up.

Among the 13 persons killed in the Pakistani shelling was Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar of the 5-Field Regiment.

"The GOC (general officer commanding) and all ranks of White Knight Corps salute the supreme sacrifice of L/Nk Kumar of 5 Fd Regt, who laid down his life on May 7 during Pakistan Army shelling. We also stand in solidarity with all victims of the targeted attacks on innocent civilians in Poonch sector," the Army said in a post on X.

The Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) early Wednesday to avenge the April 22 terror attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

In view of the escalating tension, the authorities have ordered that all educational institutions in five border districts of Jammu region will remain closed for the second day on Thursday.

In a post on X, Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar said that all schools, colleges and educational institutions in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch districts will remain closed for the second day on Thursday in view of the prevailing situation.

The administration in Jammu division has also set up 24x7 control rooms in all the 10 districts of the region.

Thursday's shelling was the 14th consecutive night of firing along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir amid heightened tension following the Pahalgam attack.

Ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border have been very rare after India and Pakistan renewed the ceasefire agreement on February 25, 2021.