Patna: Authorities in Bihar have arrested 47 people and confiscated 271 animals along the India-Nepal border ahead of animal sacrifice ritual in Nepal’s Gadhimai festival.
The Gadhimai Festival in Bara district of Nepal takes place every five years during this time. This year, the ritual is scheduled for November 28 and 29.
The animals are sacrificed during a two-day ritual — the largest religious slaughter in the world — to appease the deity of Gadhimai.
Meanwhile, the Humane Society International (HSI), an animal protection group, has welcomed the move by the government saying it would help reduce the number of animals killed this year. The HSI recently undertook a special mission to Nepal in collaboration with People for Animals and Animal Welfare Network Nepal where they met the President and the Prime Minister of Nepal, as well as temple officials to call for a suspension of the sacrifice of half a million buffalo, goats and hens.
Last month, the Supreme Court of India in response to a petition, passed an interim order directing the Government of India to prevent animals being illegally transported across the border for sacrifice at Gadhimai. The court also asked animal protection groups and others to devise an action plan to ensure the court order is implemented. In response, border checks have been increased and Bihar has confirmed 47 arrests have been made and 271 animals seized in the past month.
The HSI also immediately swung into action with an unprecedented weeklong visit to Nepal to plead directly with temple officials and the president. A HSI delegation is preparing to travel again to Nepal next week to patrol the perimeter of the festival site to ensure first-hand that the court order is implemented effectively and that as many animals as possible are confiscated and cared for. As around 70 per cent of the animals to be sacrificed will come from India, the border task force has the potential to significantly reduce the number of animals to be killed.
“I am pleased we were able to sit down with the Nepali President, Prime Minister and other politicians, to speak up for the hundreds of thousands of innocent animals who are condemned to an utterly unjustified beheading at Gadhimai. We sincerely hope they will act to stop this unnecessary bloodshed,” HSI, India, managing director NG Jayasimha said in statement yesterday.
“We will do the very best we can for these animals. The government of Bihar and the district magistrates are to be congratulated for the exemplary job they have done thus far, and together we expect to be able to at least substantially reduce the number of animals sacrificed. We wish we could save them all, but we will do everything we can,” he added.
