[Reader-list] 5 water buffaloes, 50, 000 sheep and thousands of chicken slaughtered

[S. Jabbar]

AsiaNews
Karnataka: non-Hindus not allowed to kill cows, Hindus can slaughter animals
in ritual sacrifice
Nirmala Carvalho
02/26/2010 13:35

A bill would ban the killing of cows, a holy animal for Hindus. Hindu
extremist groups are in favour of the move, but not the members of other
religions. At a ceremony in honour of a Hindu deity, buffaloes, sheep and
chicken are killed in a ritual sacrifice.

Mangalore (AsiaNews) ­ Modern India¹s reality was most visible recently in
the southern State of Karnataka as two events highlight the country¹s
contradictions. In one case, thousands of animals were killed as part of a
traditional Hindu religious ceremony; in the other, protesters took to the
streets to urge the State government to stop a bill that would ban the
killing of cows. On Wednesday, about 100,000 people gathered in Davangere
District to share in a bloody ritual involving tens of thousands of animals.
The next day in Mangalore, thousands of demonstrators rallied against a bill
that would outlaw killing cows.

The anti-bill rally was organised by the ŒMovement for the Protection of
Indian Food Culture¹. Demonstrators walked by government buildings, calling
on the authorities to safeguard the interests of all citizens, including
non-vegetarians, and drop its proposed piece of legislation.

According to a local political leader, A K Subbayya, the bill is designed to
indulge the Sangh Parivar, a Hindu social movement that promotes the purity
of Hinduism and a return to religious absolutism.

Sangh Parivar militants believe cows to be divine. ³This is why the bill
does not take into account the views of non-vegetarians and non-Hindus.
Sangh has vested interests, including economic ones, in imposing
vegetarianism. If it gets away with it, in a few years they will get some
other animal protected as holy.²

³It is wrong to think that only Muslims and Christians oppose the anti-cow
slaughter bill,² Subbayya noted. ³The BJP government should know that there
are a lot of members from the lower castes, including Dalits, who have been
eating cow meat for centuries. [. . .] What is wrong with that? What will
cow owners do with their animals² if the bill is approved?

In the meantime, the early dawn on Wednesday saw a vast sea of Hindus gather
in Davangere to watch the arrival of the severed head of a buffalo that had
been killed inside the Sridurgambika Temple. In order to appease the
goddess, one of the Hindu deities, five water buffaloes, 50,000 sheep and
thousands of chicken were slaughtered.

Since a ban on slaughtering is in place at present, Hindu worshippers cut
the buffalo at an undisclosed place and brought it to the temple. During the
transfer, a former minister applied blood to his forehead.