New Delhi, May 27 (IANS): The CPI-M on Saturday termed the Environment Ministry's ban of sale of cattle for slaughter an attempt to provide a "legal cover" to its communal agenda, and demanded the notification's withdrawal.

"The notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change that bans sale of cattle for slaughter is an atrocious attempt by the Modi government to give legal cover for its wholly communal and divisive agenda to impose a diet code on the country," the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo said in a statement.

It said that the decision will destroy the livelihood of crores of farmers involved in animal husbandry, eliminate traditional cattle fairs, and put an unfair burden on farmers to care for useless cattle.A

"This further burdens the farmers who are increasingly resorting to distress suicides due to escalating input costs. It will also impact on the leather industry and the meat export industry affecting the livelihood of lakhs of people.

"The notification is also an encroachment on the rights of the states under whose jurisdiction such issues fall. The CPI-M strongly condemns and opposes the notification and demands its withdrawal," the statement said.

The Union Environment Ministry on Friday notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules-2017, making it mandatory to ensure the cattle are not bought or sold with a purpose of slaughtering, saying the aim is to regulate the livestock market and prevent cruelty.