Ahmedabad: Maulana Mehboob-ur-Rehman Qasmi , a Muslim cleric, on Tuesday said the beef ban has been imposed in Gujarat because the festival of 'Bakra Eid' is coming. He also said, 'The government cannot force its ideology on the people of different sections.'

Yesterday, billboards with pictures of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and the Islamic symbol of the crescent moon and star came up in an Ahmedabad locality with a message from the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board of the Gujarat government, quoting a verse it claims is from the Quran to back its case for the protection of the cow.