Raising Voice Against World’s Largest Animal Killing Fair

                                          Sacrificed buffaloes lie on the ground. Image: Reuters

BARIYAPUR – The fair last took place in 2009 where more than 250,000 animals were decapitated. This is one of the biggest Hindu fairs that is organised every five years and celebrated for a month. This fair is celebrated in honour of Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power, in the village of Bariyapur, Bara District, Nepal. Every year millions of people from Nepal, India and other neighbouring countries attend this fair.

Animal rights activists in Nepal and different parts of the world have begun a protest campaign to end this brutal sacrifice of animals in the fair. Half a million animals are planned to be beheaded in this year’s fair. All the animals will be guillotined in two days. Animals are not fed with food and water the day before the sacrifice, which causes thousands of animals to die of stress, tiredness, thirst and hunger.

While people in other parts of the world are protesting against this, people in Nepal have organised a rally to mark their protest against this brutal act. Hundreds of youth activists gathered near army headquarters and walked to Basantapur Durbar Square. The rally was ended by forming a lotus, to symbolise a stop to the brutal sacrifice. Activists in Pokhara and Bara also organised a protest rally.

Manoj Gautam, President of Animal Welfare Network Nepal said, “Our intention was to attract attention of the government and judicial authorities who don’t seem interested in the issue.”

This has now became a global issue. Joanna Lumley, a British actress, led a protest rally outside of the Nepalese Embassy in London. She handed over  a petition with more than 80,000 signatures requesting to stop the mass slaughter and mindless killing of innocent animals in the name of the goddess Gadhimai. They also urged the Nepali government to stop supporting the fair.

Many petition campaigns are now gaining much attention, with more than 100,000 people all around the world signing them. An online petition by the Humane Society International reads, “Often given no access to food, water or shelter for days prior to being killed, many die before the main event even begins. The survivors are beheaded or have their throats cut with all manner of weapons by people with no training in humane slaughter, resulting in a slow, painful death.”

Other petitions appears in change.org and gopetition.com. Supporting this huge protest, the Indian Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, has banned the moving of animals from India to Nepal for sacrificial purposes. Border states were ordered by the central Home Ministry to have tight observations in their areas to ensure that no animals are taken illegally to Nepal. The Home Ministry estimates that more than 90,000 buffaloes could be illegally carried from India this year. It is also estimated that more than 70% of the animals slaughtered are brought from India.

Thousands of people will flock to the festival to attend the month-long event and sacrifice animals with the belief that doing so will appease goddess Gadhimai and bring prosperity.