IDs for Indian cows

MURSHIDABAD, India — To stop the smuggling of Indian cattle to Bangladesh, in one Indian border district, authorities have come up with a novel solution: photo-identification cards for all local cattle.

Earlier this year, local authorities asked residents of all villages bordering Bangladesh in the Indian district of Murshidabad to prepare photo IDs for local cows and buffaloes.

The cattle ID cards are being issued to help Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and police intercept cattle — mostly cows and water buffaloes — smuggled across the border.

According to one estimate, at least 25,000 head of cattle are smuggled into Bangladesh every day from India — mostly through the Indian state of West Bengal.

“The traffickers have a well-entrenched network in the bordering villages where the cattle are kept in transit, before being sent across the border. These ID cards can help us easily identify the cattle brought into Indian villages for smuggling,” said Harish Chandra Upadhyaya, head of the BSF in Murshidabad.

India doesn’t legalize the export of cattle to any country but they are smuggled to Bangladesh and Pakistan regularly. Indian traffickers bring the cattle by truck to West Bengal from as far as north India, he said.

People in bordering villages are busy getting their home cows photographed in local photo studios for the special cards to avoid harassment by the BSF and police who often raid villages in search of cattle waiting to be smuggled to Bangladeshi slaughterhouses.

West Bengal shares 1,300 miles of border with Bangladesh and the entire border, which is partly fenced, is used for smuggling. In villages along only about 75 miles of the international border the cattle ID cards have come in practice.

More than 75 percent of the cattle smuggled into Bangladesh are brought from northern half of India. In 2006, the BSF intercepted 122,000 Bangladesh-bound cattle in the border districts of West Bengal.

In Bangladesh, the counterparts of Indian cattle smugglers are identified as cow traders or importers who pay duty to Bangladeshi customs for importing the cattle from Indian smugglers.

It is thought that more than 80 percent of cows slaughtered in Bangladesh are from India.

The cattle are usually carried at night across the border through unmanned illegal crossing points by boat or on foot. But local villagers also attempt to smuggle the animals in the daytime in the border area — where Indian territory stretches up to 5 miles beyond BSF checkpoints — with the excuse of letting the cattle graze before handing them over to Bangladeshi traffickers.

“Soon these ID cards are going to be made mandatory for all cattle in border villages,” said Mr. Upadhyaya. “Then, during our raid if villagers cannot produce the ID cards, [it’ll be easier for us] to confiscate the cattle and book those villagers on charges of smuggling.”

This year in Murshidabad, according to government sources, about 5,000 cattle IDs have been issued to their owners. The applications of hundreds more are waiting to be processed.

In Murshidabad’s villages bordering Bangladesh, most cows are now found grazing or ploughing with their IDs dangling from their necks or horns.

Valid for two years, each laminated ID card, apart from displaying the picture of the animal and its owner, carries vital information about the animal, including color, height, sex and length of its horns. It also carries the name and address of the owner of the animal and sometimes descriptions like one “horn missing” or “half tail lost.”

Farid Hussain, a resident of Jalangi village in Murshidabad said it was troublesome to get his four cows photographed.

“I spent two whole days to get their pictures in a studio,” he said. “One of my cows damaged the lighting system of the studio and I had to pay 800 rupees [about $20] — half of my month’s income — in damages to the studio. It’s a really big hassle. Still, I am happy to get the ID cards which I hope will help me get rid of midnight raids and harassment by BSF.”

However many think as long as corruption among BSF and police continues so to will the trafficking of Indian cattle to Bangladesh.

“These photo ID cards probably will help some innocent villagers from being heckled by BSF and police, but it can not stop the cattle mafia,” said a villager who didn’t want to be identified.

“In any situation, they will bribe the forces [BSF and police] and continue operating freely even in the absence of the ID cards of their cattle, as they have done for decades,” said the 75-year-old villager who runs a tea shop in front of a BSF checkpoint at a border village in Murshidabad.

But officials point out the positive side.

“In border villages the scheme has been well-accepted among ordinary people who, at their own initiative, are coming to us with the photographs, certificate from local village officials and other details of the cattle to get the ID cards processed,” said Mrityunjay Banerjee, a district administration official in Murshidabad.

“Positive effects of the cattle ID cards are being felt on the ground, with many smugglers shifting their base to other districts. We believe the ID cards will come in existence in all Indian districts bordering Bangladesh soon and we shall be able to curb this illegal trafficking of Indian cattle at least to a big extent,” he said.