Last week, the western Indian state of Maharashtra banned beef consumption. The state government has barred possession or sales of the meat.
上周，印度西部的马哈拉施特拉邦禁止了牛肉消费。邦政府已经禁止持有或销售牛肉。
Hindu groups welcomed the ban. But many Muslims in western India have criticized it. They say it will make tens of thousands of people jobless.
印度教团体对该禁令表示欢迎。但是印度西部许多穆斯林则提出了批评。他们表示，这将使数万人失业。
Hindus consider cows holy. The animals are already protected in India. But, the new law extends the ban to slaughtering bulls, bullocks, and calves.
印度教教徒认为牛是神圣的。这种动物在印度已经得到保护。但是，这项新的法律扩大到禁止屠宰公牛、犍牛和小牛。
The ban took effect on March 5. On that day, many slaughter houses in Maharashtra suddenly closed. Beef disappeared from the menus of restaurants, including those in the state capital, Mumbai.
该禁令将于3月5日生效。在那天，马哈拉施特拉邦的许多屠宰场突然关闭。牛肉从所有餐厅的菜单中消失，包括该邦首府孟买的餐厅。
Under the new law, having or selling beef could lead to fines or prison terms of up to five years. The Bharatiya Janata Party passed the law. The BJP won control of the state government last year.
根据这项新的法律，持有或销售牛肉可能会导致罚款或最多入狱五年。印度人民党通过了这项法律。该党于去年赢得了该邦政府的控制权。
The party attempted to ban beef 20 years ago when it was also in power. But the ban was never passed because the BJP lost power soon after.
该党20年前当权时就试图禁止牛肉。但由于印度人民党很快失势，这项禁令未能通过。
Mohammad Ali Qureshi is president of the Mumbai Suburban Beef Dealers Association. He said the ban will have a bad effect on tens of thousands of butchers, beef retailers, and others involved in the trade.
穆罕默德·阿里·库雷希（Mohammad Ali Qureshi）是孟买郊区牛肉交易商协会的会长。他说这项禁令将会对数万名屠夫和牛肉零售商以及其它相关人士产生不良影响。
He said many of those affected are among the poorest people in the area. They have little or no education, and cannot easily get other jobs. He said people have become jobless without notice.
他说，许多受影响者是该地区最穷的人。他们很少或根本没有受过教育，无法轻易获得其它工作。他说，人们已经在未获通知的情况下失业。
Beef consumption in India is limited to non-Hindus. But the country has become the world's second-biggest exporter of beef. Most of the meat comes from buffaloes.
印度的牛肉消费仅限于非印度脚教徒。但该国已经成为全球第二大牛肉出口国。大部分牛肉来自水牛。
Hindu groups do not like that India is a major exporter of beef. They say many cows are being illegally killed.
印度教团体对印度是牛肉主要出口国不满。他们说许多母牛被非法宰杀。
Muslims control most of the beef trade. Banning beef has become a major issue between India's Hindus and Muslims.
穆斯林控制了大部分的牛肉贸易。禁止牛肉已经成为印度的印度教教徒和穆斯林之间的一个重大问题。
Venkatesh Abdev is with the World Hindu Council. He says his group will fight for a nationwide ban on beef consumption. Mr. Abdev agrees that the ban will affect people working in the beef trade. But he says it is a price to be paid. He notes the killing of cows is a very emotional issue for Hindus.
文卡塔斯（Venkatesh Abdev）就职于世界印度教议会。他说，该组织将争取在全国范围内禁止牛肉消费。Abdev先生认同该禁令将会影响在牛肉贸易行业工作的人们。但他表示这是必须付出的代价。他指出，屠杀母牛对印度教来说是一种非常情感化的问题。
Mohammad Shahid Sheikh is president of a beef transporters group in Deonar, where one can find India's biggest slaughterhouse. He says more and more trucks with cattle are being attacked. The attacks are blamed on Hindu activists.
穆罕默德·沙希德·谢赫（Mohammad Shahid Sheikh）是Deonar牛肉运输车组织负责人，这里有印度最大的屠宰场。他说，越来越多运牛卡车被攻击。这些攻击归咎于印度教激进分子。
Mr. Sheikh says those in the beef trade tell protesters that they are following all of the rules. But the protesters say they will do everything they can to prevent the animals from being killed.
谢赫先生说，牛肉贸易人士告诉示威者他们遵守所有规定。但示威者表示，他们将尽一切可能防止牛被屠宰。
The beef ban also became a top trend on Twitter last week. Some Twitter users supported the move, but thousands criticized the ban. Some users compared the progress made on protecting cows to the lack of progress on safety for women.
牛肉禁令也成为了上周推特最热门的话题。一些推特用户支持这项举措。但数万人对该禁令提出了批评。一些用户将保护母牛进程同女性安全进展缓慢进行了对比。
In the words of one user, “Good to know India is more safe for cows than women.”
一位用户写道，“很高兴知道在印度母牛比女性更安全。”
I’m Caty Weaver.
我是卡蒂·韦弗(Caty Weaver)。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)