Campaigners at press conference: ‘End Gadhimai cruelty’

[Guest guest]

Nepal Government under mounting pressure

*Campaigners: ‘End Gadhimai cruelty’*

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*Kathmandu, November 1 2009 - *The Nepalese government is under mounting

pressure from Nepalese and international campaigners, including India's

noted activist Maneka Gandhi, to stop the centuries old animal sacrifice at

Gadhimai Festival in Bara district.

 

Today during a press meet in the Reporters' Club animal welfare campaigners,

religious scholars and government representatives discussed the 'world's

largest animal sacrifice'.

 

Drector General Dr Prabhakar Pathap of the Department of Livestock Services

said he does not have the mandate to address the issue of Gadhimai but

frankly admitted that the festival is a major cause for health concerns.

 

 

Dr Pathak: 'In 1994 Gadhimai brought Goat Plague or Pest des Petite

Ruminants PPR to the country. The government invested already one crore

rupees to try to fight this disease. In fact, China has asked the Nepal

government to address the problem as the disease can easily travel to

neighbouring countries.'

Dr Pathak said there is only one quarantaine office in Bara district but not

a single animal traveling to Gadhimai passes through this office. 'The

border is porous and we would need major resources to make sure no sick

animal ends up in Bara.'

 

Animal welfare campaigners point out that PPR is a mild disease compared to

Bird Flu, and that Gadhimai might actually cause human deaths due to a

complete lack of effective monitoring.

 

Manoj Gautam, Representative of Roots & Shoots Nepal, asked why the

government is able to test every person arriving at the airport for swine or

bird flu, while on the other hand it seems to invite deadly diseases by

allowing unmonitored mass sacrifice in Gadhimai. Gautam: 'The government has

provided 4,5 million rupees (US$ 60,000) to Gadhimai thereby inviting

unwanted cruelty and disease to Nepal. How much more will the State have to

spend on trying to eradicate the diseases it helps to create?'

 

Nepalese campaigners have joined hands in the Stop Animal Sacrifice Alliance

and Animal Welfare Network Nepal. In a petition signed by over 2500 people

the network calls for an end to the ‘extreme cruelty’ taking place at ‘the

world’s largest animal sacrifice’. The petition is addressed to the

President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the Minister

of Agriculture.

 

The network says at Gadhimai ‘innocent creatures are killed en masse in an

unorganized und unregulated manner. The buffaloes are in fact killed by

drunken devotees who enter the temple area with* khukuri *knives to cut off

the heads of frightened animals.’

 

According to the network, ‘[n]o one can adequately explain why these

practices are carried out year after year – except to say they are

‘traditional’. This however is not a valuable argument to commence these

practices; Nepal, realizing the adverse effects, has abolished a number of

‘traditions’ in the past, including human sacrifice and widow burning. ‘

 

 

The alliance members are committed to peaceful protest only and plan to

organize a sit in demonstration in Kathmandu next week.

The campaigners formed an international coalition including Indian groups

such as People for Animals, Beauty without Cruelty and Peta India.

International groups such as World Society for the Protection of Animals,

Animal Aid Abroad, Brigitte Bardot Foundation, etc have joined the campaign

by writing letters to the Nepal government and ambassadors in Europe,

Australia and the USA.

 

 

*Health risks*

 

According to the campaigners the Nepal government must take immediate action

to address the health risks of ‘the world’s largest animal sacrifice’ as

these are a great cause of concern. ‘Due to the fact that the transport,

killing, disposal and preparation of the animals and their meat goes

unmonitored and the close proximity between humans and animals, Gadhimai can

result in widespread food poisoning (Salmonella, E coli, Campylobacter,

etc), Tuberculosis, as well as bird and swine flu,’ the campaigners argue.

 

* *

The main concern is the spread of bird flu, the campaigners say. ‘With bird

flu spreading throughout the north of India as well as the east of Nepal the

movement of chicken and ducks is prohibited. In reality, due to the

overwhelming scale of the event, Indian and Nepali authorities will be

unable to check the illegal movement of potentially sick birds to Gadhimai,’

state the campaigners.

 

 

*Indian concerns*

One reason for the event's huge popularity is its proximity to India, where

some states have now banned sacrificial slaughter. The campaigners question

if ‘the New Nepal want to cater to superstitious devotees who cross the

border to do what is illegal in their own country?’

 

Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has mailed a letter to Prime Minister

Madhav Kumar Nepal asking for his intervention. According to Gandhi, ‘[m]any

people in Nepal and the subcontinent are concerned about this sacrifice.

Your government has taken so many humane steps – banning the export of

monkeys for instance. Since you have introduced the Meat Act which makes the

humane killing of animals mandatory, these acts during the Gadhimai festival

would be illegal.’

 

In her letter, the acclaimed animal rights activist, environmentalist and

politician notes that ‘[a]ll over the Internet there are hundreds of

articles that decry the animal sacrifices in Nepal. Tourists declare that

they will not come back to the country. Nepal must be seen as a modern

progressive nation. It may be seen as no coincidence that it is only the

extremely poor and wretched places that have animal sacrifices.’

 

The campaigners urge the government to introduce and enforce a much-needed

Animal Welfare Act to curb animal cruelty and promote genuine animal welfare

activities across the country.

 

 

*Background*

The Gadhimai Jatra festival takes place every five years. According to the

organizers some 700.000 people, more than half of them from bordering Indian

states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, visited the Gadhimai Temple in 2004.

This year the organizers plan to sacrifice 500.000 animals including 20,000

buffaloes. The festival starts on Mangsir 9, November 24. According to the

rules of the festival all animals must be killed in the first two days.

 

Religious leader Palden Dorje a.k.a Ram Bahadur Bomjan plans to protest the

sacrifice by making an appearance and bless the devotees ahead of the

festival

 

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Lucia de Vries

Freelance Journalist

Nepal - Netherlands