Activists and Border Forces Unite to Rescue Animals Bound for Gadhimai Sacrifice Festival | File Photo
Mumbai: Animal rights activists have been stationed at the key checkpoints of Indo-Nepal border towns ahead of the world’s largest animal sacrifice festival. The volunteers are assisting the border security forces to confiscate the animals being illegally transported to the Gadhimai Festival.
The Free Press Journal has earlier reported about Gadhimai Festival in Nepal’s Bara district which is also known as the world’s largest animal sacrifice festival where lakhs of animals including buffaloes, goats, pigeons and others are sacrificed for religious beliefs. The FPJ had campaigned against this practice and has reported about the animal rights activists and non-government organisations stepping up to demand an end to the cruelty against animals.
Activists and Border Forces Unite to Rescue Animals Bound for Gadhimai Sacrifice Festival | File Photo
Ahead of the animal sacrifice ritual at the Gadhimai festival, animal protection organizations Humane Society International/India (HSI/India) and People For Animals (PFA) are urging devotees not to bring animals for sacrifice. HSI/India and PFA have deployed teams to assist the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in their work prohibiting the illegal transport of animals across the Indo-Nepal border.
Under the leadership of border forces, HSI/India and PFA are working to ensure that confiscated animals are taken to safety in accordance with the Indian law. The on-ground volunteers are conducting thorough vehicle checks to ensure that no animals are smuggled across. In the last two days, the volunteers have rescued hundreds of buffaloes, goats and pigeons which were bound for the festival to be beheaded.
Activists and Border Forces Unite to Rescue Animals Bound for Gadhimai Sacrifice Festival | File Photo
Arkaprava Bhar, HSI/India’s senior manager of campaign capacity building, who is leading on-ground efforts at the border, said, “Our mission is not just about stopping the illegal transport of animals but about standing up for compassion in our traditions. In the past two days, we’ve stopped vehicles carrying animals for the festival where they would have been beheaded had we not been there. We will save as many lives as possible and spread the message to end blood sacrifice.”
A few days prior to the border work, the teams also conducted door-to-door awareness campaigns and distributed around 3,500 local language pamphlets in 12 villages near the Indo-Nepal border, urging devotees not to sacrifice their animals.
Activists and Border Forces Unite to Rescue Animals Bound for Gadhimai Sacrifice Festival | File Photo
HSI/India and PFA have been working since 2014 to stop animal sacrifice at Gadhimai. According to their claims, the gruesome animal sacrifices have considerably reduced from an estimated more than 5 lakh animals killed in 2009 to around 2.5 lakh animals in 2014 and 2019, following persistent efforts.
Held every five years in Bariyarpur village in the Bara district of Nepal, the Gadhimai festival is known as the world’s largest animal sacrifice event. Tens of thousands of animals, including buffalo, goats, chickens, pigs, ducks and rats are beheaded as part of an historic ritual to appease the goddess Gadhimai. According to HSI, majority of these animals are illegally transported from India into Nepal without any export license.
