Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Friday, voted to reduce the duration of the meat ban in the city to a period of two days instead of the four days as was announced earlier, on the account of the Jain festival Prayushan Parva. The ban, which had prohibited the sale of meat in the city for four days, will now be effective only for the days of 13 and 18.
The ban, which was enforced last year as well, has evoked mixed reactions, with the BJP, wanting to extend the ban to 8 days, but its ally Shiv Sena hitting out against the Jain community for the ban, warning that the community would bite the dust if it continued with such demands.
Meanwhile, in response to a question by the Bombay High Court as to why the ban did not include fish, seafood and eggs, the government responded saying that there was a difference between mutton and fish. “Fish die the moment they are out of water. So there is no slaughter involved,” said lawyer Anil Singh, representing the government, emphasising that the sentiment, was that there should be no slaughter.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday had said that the four-day ban on sale of meat in Mumbai was “not feasible” and had sought a response from the state and the BMC on a petition challenging the ban.
A bench headed by Justice Anoop Mohta said on Thursday, “Mumbai is a metropolitan city. A straight ban on meat cannot be a formula. Ban is on slaughter and sale of the meat. What about other sources? What about packaged meat that is already available in the market?”
It suggested that if the Jain community had a problem with animals being slaughtered in the open and displayed in shops, a direction could be issued against it.
The opposition, the NCP, and the Shiv Sena has alleged that the BJP was attempting to appease the Jain community with the move trying to bank on them for the 2017 civic body elections.
