This is with reference to Nilanjan
Mukhopadhyay's claim "that beef eating in India was never a matter of identity
for Muslims" (The Pioneer, Aug 27, 2003). This is simply not true.
For the great majority of Indian Muslims, there is a fatwa that "sacrificing
cows is definitely in accordance with the requirements of Shariah" and
that "those who advocate to the contrary to please the polytheists, the
fatwa declares, are out to undermine Islam. They are great sinners...they
are the enemies of Islam, they are the dacoits of Muslims, they are the
brothers of the Devil.....Quoting the Quran, the fatwa declares that they
shall be consigned to Hell for ever.....The continuation of sacrifice of
cows [is] among the necessities of religion.....to stop sacrificing cows
for the sake of Hindus is haram" (Arun Shourie, "The World of Fatwas",
HarperCollins, 1997:5, 146-148).