Although India has asked its border guards to stop smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh, a write-up in the Indian Force magazine has suggested that the only way to tide over the problem is "legalising export of over-aged and non-milching animals" and "promoting beef industry in India" by allowing their slaughter.

The central government of India is dedicated to the protection of beef, with some states banning cow slaughter. However, the BSF is of the view that it is time to take a practical approach, with respect for the cultural sensitivity of India.

In its official magazine, BSF's DIG (intelligence) SP Tiwari, who is posted in the South Bengal frontier and deals with the menace of cattle-smuggling daily, has made these suggestions while acknowledging that over two million cattle are smuggled to Bangladesh every year.

Bangladesh has been pleading India to legalise cattle trade across the border as it is a huge industry in the country. Even BSF officers say in private that preventing cattle smuggling should be taken out of its charter of duties as it diverts attention from the more important job of preventing infiltration and smuggling of fake Indian currency notes and contraband.

"The joke in the force is that we are not BSF - Border Security Force - but CSF, Cattle Security Force, ” says a senior BSF officer.

Among other suggestions mentioned in the magazine are opening cattle haats in bordering areas for limited sale of cattle to Bangladesh; legalising cattle export for agricultural purposes and helping Bangladesh develop animal husbandry; and a total ban on slaughter of cattle in India by enactment of law by the government of India.