Why Marathwada's farmers dread the new cattle law

The country witnessed 63 attacks by cow vigilantes, including 28 deaths, in the past seven years

“Pashu an shetkari ekaach vargaatle na?…He samplyaashivaay yaanchee smart city chee yojana kashi yashasvi honaar?” (For the government) aren’t animals and farmers in the same category? How will their Smart City project be realised if both are not destroyed?

This was a Facebook post last month by Maharudra Mangnale, farmer, author and journalist from Shirur-Tajband village in Latur district in south-central Maharashtra. The irony was directed at the tightening of restrictions on cattle markets and what this would do to the farmer.

There is a ban on the sale of