Indian town bans meat sales

A town in northern India has banned the sale of meat to encourage vegetarianism and spiritualism.

Municipal officials in Palwal, seventy kilometres south of Delhi, say the decision will not affect any religious communities and will only improve the health of one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand residents.

But meat traders, who are generally poor Muslims and low-caste Hindus, have reacted angrily and filed a court case against the ban.

A representative of the town's hotel federation Suresh Chutani said the ban would mean hundreds of people losing their jobs.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service