Is India's ban on cattle slaughter 'food fascism'?

India is a diverse country with a lot of different cultures and religions and one thing that Indians are most proud about is their ability to coexist together and accept each other’s choices. However, recently Politians are trying to use people’s diversity to increase intolerance and seek their advantage. For example, the Hindu Nationalist Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and its emboldened right-wing group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers Organisation) have tried to pass a nationwide ban on cow or cattle slaughter. Since Cows have to be protected because they are holy in Hinduism and majority of India’s population is Hindu. Beef has already been banned in 18 out of the 29 states in India. While the Hindus with the exception of those from Kerala do not eat beef, there are people with different faiths who eat beef and denying them the right to eat the meat of their choice can be considered as food fascism by many. The trading ban on cattle for slaughter, not just applies for cows but also buffalo which is widely used for meat and leather. India also has a flourishing beef trade which would not only hamper the economy but also the world supply of beef. It could cause a loss of $4 billion and thousands of jobs to the economy. Tens of millions of cattle need to be slaughtered or die and are sold for slaughter, with the ban poor farmers whose only livelihood are those animals will face economic difficulties. Also, several states have come up opposing the central government's nation-wide ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter to prevent uncontrolled animal trade. A lot of journalists have written about how banning beef and controlling people's diet is a feature of imperialism that does not uphold India’s secular and constitutional values. A Politician from Kerala, V T Balram gave up a twenty-year vegetarian lifestyle because he wanted to promote the right politics of food. He posted a video of him and his friends eating beef because he wanted to relegate the attempts of the BJP’s beef ban. The consumption of beef has increased both in villages and cities and is the preferred meat in the north-eastern states of India. But does the government have the right to control what people should eat? Recently a man was lynched by a mob because there were rumours that his family ate beef. Is this anti-secular behaviour promoted and accepted by our constitution?