The Loksatta Party today declared its opposition to the anti cow-slaughter bill proposed by the Karnataka government, terming it fundamentally flawed and divisive. The only goal of the move, the party said, was to divide the electorate before the important BBMP elections in Bangalore, and thereby seek to mobilise a highly polarised vote bank.

"It is bad to pass laws banning the habits of some people because other people are offended. If we use that logic, there will be no end to the list of things that can be banned. In a democratic society, people have to learn to respect the choices and preferences of each other. The freedom to have only popular habits and thoughts is no freedom at all. Instead, we must be willing to recognise the rights of others to their own choices, and respect that. Only then can we demand respect for our choices from others," a party spokesman said.

The Bill, said party members, is flawed in many respects. The government does not seem to have an understanding of the economics and livelihood issues in the meat industry, nor does it understand the diet of millions of people, especially the poor, in the State. Somewhat ironically, the legislation does not even understand culture, although it is seemingly mooted in the name of culture. We cannot have a society in which only the culture of a few communities is treated as Indian culture, and everything else is treated as non-Indian.

The party also noted that there are many unfulfilled development promises in the state. The government could start addressing these - for instance, by making the schools and hospitals work better, and by ensuring people have toilets in their homes, or by curbing the corruption that is now everywhere. Trying to protect animals while neglecting the people is tragic, said the party.