SRINAGAR – Authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir on Friday denied there was any ban on the sacrifice of animals during the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid al-Azha.
The clarification came a day after the government asked the law enforcers to stop the sacrifice of cows, calves, camels and other animals.
Senior government official G.L. Sharma said the earlier communication was “misconstrued,” and the government had been seeking transportation of animals and the prevention of cruelty during the Muslim festival.
“The letter was sent to enforcement agencies to enforce the laws of the Animal Welfare Board and it is at the time there is mass slaughter of animals to prevent cruelty on animals,” the official said, according to the local news portal The Kashmir Walla. “This is not a ban on slaughter and sacrifice.”
A government communication addressed to civil and police authorities in the region on Thursday asked them to stop “illegal killing/sacrifices of cows/calves, camels & other animals,” citing animal welfare laws.
Muslims traditionally mark Eid al-Azha, or Feast of Sacrifice, by offering special prayers and slaughtering livestock, usually a goat, sheep, a cow or a camel, to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim´s test of faith. The meat of the sacrificed animals is shared among family and friends and poor people who cannot afford to sacrifice animals.
The official circular caused an uproar in the already restive region with an association of groups of Muslim scholars calling it “arbitrary” and “unacceptable.”
The association, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema, said in a statement that “the sacrifice of permitted animals, including bovines” on Eid al-Azha “is an important tenet of religion on this day.”
It urged the government to immediately revoke the “discriminatory order.”
