New Delhi: The ban on the sale of meat for four days during a Jain fasting and a festival called ‘Paryushan’ in Mumbai has now become a controversy. There are both for and against views on this. According to pro-ban people, without understanding the issue properly and not knowing the history of meat ban in India, some Modi bashers are already attacking the BJP government in Maharashtra for this. In reality, several places Hindu and Jain holy places have banned sale of meat across India over the years.
In some places meat shops and abattoirs are closed even on Gandhi Jayanthi day (October 2). According to historians Mogul emperor Akbar had banned the sale and use of meat during Jain fasting as far back as 1582.
According to media reports the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) agreed for a four-day ban on sale of meat in Mumbai on Monday. Slaughter of animals will not be allowed in city abattoirs, meat and poultry shops and fish markets will be shut on — September 10, 13, 17 and 18 — the days of Jain ritual of Paryushan, civic officials said. Restaurants, however, may serve meat, claimed a spokesperson of the Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (AHAR). The move came days after the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Municipal Corporation’s (MBMC) controversial decision to ban meat sale for eight days in the city.
The Hindu holy town of Haridwar has banned even the sale of egg in the town. The Supreme Court of India has upheld the ban on even the sale of egg way back in 2004. According to a report in ‘The Hindu’ dated March 11, 2004 A Bench of Justice Shivaraj V. Patil and Justice DM Dharmadhikari of the SC rejected an appeal by Om Prakash and other traders against a judgment of the Allahabad High Court dismissing a writ petition filed by them challenging the notification banning the sale of eggs.
The appellants had challenged the ban under an amended provision of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916 on the ground that it imposed unreasonable restriction, affecting their rights under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
However, the Bench noted that by the amended provision, the Municipal Board had added only "eggs" in the list of already banned non-vegetarian food articles.
"There was already a prohibition in regard to any kind of meat or fish. The High Court has noticed that under the amended provision, the ban on sale of meat and fish, which was existing for a long time, was not challenged."
The Bench said the High Court was right in holding that the prohibition on sale of eggs within the limits of Rishikesh — a town of Hindu temples — was not an unreasonable restriction being in the larger interest of welfare of the people, consistent with the provisions of the Act.
Keeping in mind the religious sentiments attached to the three towns of Haridwar, Rishikesh and Muni Ki Reti, the Bench said: "Geographical situation and peculiar culture of the three towns justify complete restriction on trade and public dealing in non-vegetarian food items, including eggs, within the municipal limits of the towns."
According to a report in ‘The Times of India’ in 2012, the BJP-ruled Palitana municipality in Bhavnagar is following the footsteps of Haridwar. The municipality authorities have banned the sale of eggs and non-vegetarian food in the pilgrim town. The municipality passed a notification banning sale of non-veg food and eggs within the limits of the town in 2012.
The ban was imposed following protests by Jain saints who threatened to self-immolate if the municipality did not adopt the resolution on the lines of Haridwar.
Pravinbhai Gadhvi, president of nagar palika said that the ban was already there but this was only in the peripheries of the road leading to the Jain temples.
Some Jain saints led by Maharaj Saheb Maitriprabhsagar had sat on a fast and later threatened to self-immolate themselves if the nagar palika did not ban the sale of non-veg food and eggs within the jurisdiction of the nagar palika.
Several state governments and local authorities ban the use of meat during some festivals or other holy occasions not to hurt the religious sentiments of devotees and vegetarians. What is now happening in Mumbai is not new or unprecedented.
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