You will have to go without meat for the next four days as BMC has banned the slaughter and sale of meat in its markets for four days in Mumbai during Paryushan Parva, a Jain festival.
Mumbai: A four-day ban on selling meat in Mumbai has been imposed by civic body with the backing of BJP during Jain community’s upcoming fasting period, drawing stiff opposition from various quarters, including ally Shiv Sena which decried it as “appeasement” and “religious terrorism”.
The order by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ajoy Mehta came days after a civic body took a similar decision in the adjoining Thane district prohibiting meat sale for eight days from September 11 to 18 when the Jain community will observe fasting period ‘Paryushan’.
Restaurants, however, may serve meat, claimed a spokesperson of the Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (AHAR).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too demanded a ban on sale of meat and functioning of slaughter houses for the entire fasting period observed by the community. The Jain community observes a fast for eight days, Paryushan, which will be observed from September 10-17 this year.
Senior BJP legislators Raj Purohit and Atul Bhatkhalkar met civic chief Ajoy Mehta, demanding the ban. This evoked strong protests from the Shiv Sena and other parties that said neither the civic body nor a community could decide what others ate. The opposition also termed the BJP’s demand a way to appease the vote bank.
Following the ban,Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut equated it to “religious terrorism”.
Claiming that “85 per cent of people in India are non vegetarians”, the Shiv Sena leader said that those who are professionally involved in it won’t have anything to eat in evening as they won’t have any living.
Congress slammed the BJP and has termed the decision as ‘anti-democratic’.
“The ban is anti-democratic. The BMC has buckled under pressure from the BJP. The government should not take any decision to please a particular religious community and should function as per constitution,” said Sanjay Nirupam, former MP and president of Mumbai Congress unit.
“What to eat or not is an individual’s choice, curbing eating rights is Hitler’s style of ruling,” said Congress leader Manish Tewari.
The Mayor, Geeta Jain, justified the decision, saying: “We had initially decided to shut it for 18 days but since it clashed with Bakri-Id, we are enforcing it only for eight. This is a democracy and this has been passed by a vote.”
After coming to power in the state last year, the BJP-led government banned the slaughter, sale and import of beef.