– Arshad Shaikh
The mostly Muslim Qureshi community in Maharashtra dominates the meat business in India. They face economic strangulation from strict laws, violence by vigilantes, and the administration’s indifference. Feeling suffocated and to voice their grievances, they are on a strike since June 2025. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has assured the community that their demands would be looked into sincerely by the government.
The community is planning to meet the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Hopefully, after these meetings, their strike may be called off. Things are quite bleak for this hardworking community that is singularly responsible for contributing handsomely to the “protein content” in your diet. Unfortunately, their struggle highlights a bigger truth namely the ill-effects of a system that is indifferent to the plight of the poor, the marginalised, the downtrodden and religious minorities.
Qureshi Trade’s Vital Role
The Qureshi community plays an important role in Maharashtra’s economy. They handle the legal buffalo meat trade under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (amended in 2015). The sector generates about ₹300 crore every month. Around 5,000 animals are slaughtered every day, valued at ₹10 to 20 crore. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, export units process 800 buffalo meat daily. This benefits the local economy by about ₹100 crore every month. Maharashtra, which contributes 11.5% of India’s total meat production, is a major hub for buffalo meat exports.
In 2023-24, 1.295 million metric tonnes of meat was exported from here, worth ₹31,010 crore (about US$3.8-4 billion). This business is a lifeline for farmers. Most of the farmers are Bahujan and Hindu, who sell old or unproductive buffaloes for ₹20,000 to Rs 40,000. This gives them capital to buy new, younger buffaloes. The 2025 strike brought markets like Akluj and Sangola to a standstill. Farmers began losing ₹500 to 1,000 per animal per day. 767 farmer suicides were reported between January and March 2025, deepening the rural crisis. The business supports the livelihood of over 12 lakh people – transporters, labourers, hoteliers and people involved in the leather industry. This business not only drives exports but also produces co-products like gelatine and leather. Its stagnation hampers growth and worsens the poverty of unskilled workers in a state already battling unemployment.
Environmental Guardians
Contrary to the popular narrative being peddled by right-wing forces, the Qureshi community’s business helps reduce the environmental burden. By slaughtering old buffalo, they reduce pressure on pastures and prevent depletion of natural resources. Unproductive animals exacerbate fodder and water shortages, contributing to increased deforestation and resource scarcity in rural Maharashtra.
Veterinary-certified slaughter, mandated by the 2015 amendment, reduces herd sizes, cutting methane emissions – a greenhouse gas driving 14-15% of global warming. By-products such as gelatine are made from buffalo bones and leather from hides, which are beneficial to the environment. But during such strikes, carcasses lie around, adding to the risk of disease and pollution.
Regulated and legal slaughterhouses treat wastewater. But this facility is not available when illegal slaughterhouses operate due to the ban. Thus, by properly controlling buffalo numbers, the Qureshi community supports regenerative agriculture. Yet, the government focuses only on symbolic “cow protection,” ignoring these environmental benefits and harming India’s climate goals.
Islamophobic Governance
The Qureshi community faces open discrimination and is essentially left to fend for itself. The law and vigilante gangs target the community in the name of animal welfare. An amendment was passed in 2015 banning the slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks. After this, gau rakshaks increased their attacks on Muslim butchers transporting animals for slaughter. They accuse Qureshi transporters of illegal beef trade, while the Qureshis claim that they only deal in legal buffaloes. Often, false cases such as under MCOCA or MPDA, are slapped on them. Getting bail in these cases is extremely difficult, adding to their troubles.
At the same time, cow protectors are treated with leniency, and praised for “tracking down smugglers”. Often, attackers go unpunished. The police are complicit in these attacks, sometimes by remaining silent, sometimes by assisting. For the Qureshi community, this means daily extortion, fear of mob lynching, and economic siege.
Throttling the Common Butcher
Speaking to Radiance, Abdul Aziz Qureshi, a prominent leader of the movement, said the government’s action has had a strangling effect on the livelihood of ordinary butchers. He said the government allows trucks of big meat export houses to pass without any hindrance. These companies dominate India’s buffalo meat trade and account for more than 82% of the country’s total animal product exports with 1.295 million metric tons of meat in 2023-24 valued at ₹31,010/- crore (about US$3.8–4 billion). Maharashtra alone accounts for about 11.5% of the country’s meat production. The leniency for big export houses is probably because they have donated heavily to the ruling party through electoral bonds.
In contrast, for small operators, the police enforce strict provisions of the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, and the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995. These include health certificates, separate containers for different species, and permission from a veterinarian. It is nearly impossible for small butchers to meet these conditions, making their vehicles easily impounded. Almost all slaughterhouses in small towns and at the taluka level have been shut down because they do not meet Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards. Under these standards, slaughterhouses have to clean the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) present in the wastewater.
To do this, an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) has to be set up, which costs upwards of ₹8 crore far beyond the municipal budget. Large licensed slaughterhouses in metros are struggling, with many discharging up to 264 cubic meters of untreated sewage every day. Such conditions have become a double whammy for small butchers either shutting down or facing legal harassment. The Qureshi community is doing yeoman service to the nation such as mitigating environmental strain by managing unproductive livestock (reducing methane emissions and overgrazing), supplying affordable protein to millions amid India’s projected 1.65 million metric tons of carabeef exports in 2025. They are singularly responsible for bolstering local economies through employment for over 1.2 million people
Human Toll and Calls for Equity
The Qureshi community has filed petitions in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court, challenging the ban on slaughterhouses and false cases. The Maharashtra government must now take concrete steps. It must stop police highhandedness, curb cow vigilantes, and clear up ambiguous laws. If modern slaughterhouses are built and traders are given identity cards, not only will their rights be protected, but environmental standards will also be followed. Jeopardising the Qureshi community may well lead to economic collapse and social discord within one of the most prosperous states in the country and that will not be a propitious sign for “Viksit Bharat”.
