Can a buffalo's meat be referred to as beef? Some say yes and others say no in India. That's why I am confused.
You're not the only one who's confused. It
is referred to by many as 'beef',
yes, since it comes from a bovine animal. That's not something that's open to discussion.
In Hinduism it's
cows that are forbidden to kill,
not that 'beef' is forbidden to eat. The semantics/pragmatics of the English word 'beef' has nothing to do with anything related to Hindu practice. In Hinduism, it's not that you can't eat 'beef', it's that you can't eat
cows. That's not the same thing!
The religious discussion should be whether buffalo are okay to kill and eat or not (and why or why not), and not the particular semantics of the English word 'beef'.