Bengaluru: In a move that will hit Muslim traders hard, the Bengaluru civic body has prohibited animal slaughter and sale of meat on Rama Navami on April 10 (Sunday).
In an official order, the joint director of the animal husbandry department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said there will be a blanket ban on slaughterhouses, animal slaughter and the sale of meat on Rama Navami.
A BBMP official justified the move saying every year on Sri Rama Navami besides Gandhi Jayanti, Sarvodaya Day and other religious events, there is a ban on the sale of meat and animal slaughter. There is a blanket ban on these practices at least eight days a year on various occasions. This is nothing new, he added.
Slaughter houses and sale of meat are a monopoly of the Muslim community. Now Hindu right-wing groups have started offering financial help for Hindus to set up meat stalls.
Meanwhile, the Bharata Rakshana Vedike, a fringe right-wing group in Karnataka, has begun a campaign asking Hindus not to employ the services of Muslim cab, tour and travel operators.
Members of the group visited homes across several parts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, asking people not to use services of Muslim cab drivers especially when going to Hindu temples or pilgrimages.
“When we go to temples or shrines, we do not eat non-veg and taking someone who does not believe in our gods or make us impure with their food choices would be a disrespect to our culture and religion. They call us kafirs (non-believers) and just as their religion is important to them, ours is to us,” Bharat Shetty, the chief of the Vedike said.
The statements come at a time when right-wing groups, with the tacit approval of the BJP-led Basavaraj Bommai government, have targeted Muslims over issues such as hijab, halal meat, and the azaan in mosques.
