Sir — This refers to the article, “A gesture of great import” (July 12) by Anuradha Dutt.
Cows have been the backbone of the Indian agricultural system ever since the dawn of this ancient Hindu civilisation. Even emperor Babur had banned cow slaughter despite being an orthodox Muslim himself. Yet, today in India we have over 36,000 legal slaughterhouses. The Directive Principles of State Policy clearly say that the Government must protect cows and cattle.