"Don't give communal spin": Bombay High Court on plea against ban on animal slaughter in Vishalgad Fort area

The Bombay High Court today warned against giving a communal spin to the plea challenging a recent ban on the practice of animal sacrifice within the protected area of Vishalgad Fort in Kolhapur, Maharashtra..The Court was hearing a petition filed by the Hajrat Peer Malik Rehan Mira Saheb Dargah, a registered trust from Kolhapur, challenging a communication issued by the Deputy Director of Archaeology and Museums to the District Collector of Kolhapur. The said communication imposed a ban on animal slaughter in the Vishalgad Fort area..The Trust submitted that all the authorities in Kolhapur had swung into action “only under the influence exerted by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists.”It added that there was neither a law and order problem nor was such slaughter spreading unhygienic conditions or causing threats to the monument’s security. The Court, however, was not pleased with such submissions and warned the lawyer appearing for the Trust, advocate Satish Talekar, against giving any communal spin to the matter.“If you are trying to give a communal spin, that is the ground (on which) we will dismiss it,” the bench warned. .In the petition filed through Talekar & Associates, the Trust said that several rightwing outfits have recently started to spoil the communal atmosphere and social harmony by creating conflict and a feeling of hatred among two communities for political gains.The Trust pointed out that the practice of animal sacrifice for cooking and consumption of food in closed premises was neither banned nor objected to by anyone for years. “The present ruling dispensation comprised of BJP, Shiv Sena political parties have chosen to prohibit animal sacrifice to pacify communal feelings and appease the communal zealots,” the Trust emphasized. Whereas advocate Talekar today sought an ad-interim relief of stay on the communication while the petition remains pending, the Court declined to accede to this request. “There is no question of interim relief in matters like this. It is an irreversible process. We are not going to permit unregulated and unmonitored slaughter anywhere for any purpose. There is an invocation of the need to maintain correct hygiene and cleanliness”, the Court said..The plea also challenged consequent communications addressed to the Superintendent of Kolhapur Police and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Gram Panchayat), Kolhapur Zilla Parishad. .The communications stated that animal sacrifice was going on in the protected area of Vishalgad Fort, when there is a ban on cooking food in the protected area near the monument as per the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. The communication explained that as per a 1998 judgment of the Bombay High Court, Aurangabad bench, animal sacrifice in the name of gods and goddesses in public places was strictly prohibited. It added that the law and order situation in the area would further deteriorate with the defacement of the monument. .This move was challenged in the petition by the Trust, which has claimed that animal sacrifice was an “age-old practice.”