Activists to knock on CA doors against Gadhimai animal carnage

AKANSHYA SHAH
KATHMANDU, Nov 2: The animal rights lobby, which has gained momentum in the country due to the upcoming Gadhimai festival in Bara where some 500,000 animals are expected to be sacrificed, has decided to urge the CA committees concerned to help control the animal carnage.
The activists plan to write to the CA Committee on Natural Resources, Economic Rights and Revenue Sharing, Committee on Cultural and Social Solidarity, and Committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in this regard.
“Since CA is in a position to interfere right now, we have decided to write to the committees concerned,” Manoj Gautam, country coordinator of Roots & Shoots, Nepal, said, adding, “Even if the event cannot be totally banned, the government can control the entry of animals from India for sacrifice at the festival.”
Stating that animal welfare and conservation issues are correlated, Gautam added, “It is high time the authorities looked at the long-term consequences of such events.”
A group of animal rights activists has also planned to dispatch a team to document the transfer of animals from neighboring India. Of the total animals — comprising buffaloes, piglets, chickens, rats, goats, baby goats, roosters, and pigeons — 70 percent are brought from India. In addition, street plays will be held at various places to raise awareness against the killings.
Department of Livestock says it has no mandate
The Department of Livestock, on the other hand, has washed its hands off the Gadhimai issue, stating that it has no mandate to interfere even if it controls about a dozen of quarantine check posts in the country. As per the Quarantine Act, all animals and animal products entering the country are to be checked for health condition and see that they are transported in humane condition.
“The department has no mandate to stop the festival,” Director General of the department Dr Prabhakar Pathak said. He added checking cannot be effective as the animals are brought from many entry points and not only through the main border check points due to open border with India.
Dr Pathak admitted to possible health hazards caused by such unorganized mass slaughtering of animals. The impact of PPR disease that was detected among goats after the 1995 Gadhimai event is still haunting the country, he said.
The animal sacrifice in the five-year Gadhimai festival is carried out mostly by Indians from Bihar state, where any animal sacrifice is prohibited around the Bodhgaya periphery where Gautam Budhha attained nirvana (enlightenment).
Animal rights activists in India, led by the Indian Member of Parliament Menaka Gandhi, have strengthened their campaign against the barbaric killing of animals in what is said to be the world´s biggest animal sacrifice fair. They also submitted a petition to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal a week ago, asking the government to denounce the festival. Gandhi said in the letter that the event will portray Nepal in bad light before the international community and affect the tourism sector as well.
Source : myrepublica.com