Mumbai:Several parts of Maharashtra witnessed protests by the opposition parties against the meat ban on Independence Day. Holding live roosters and chickens, Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS supporters participated in demonstrations outside Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) headquarters. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, former AIMIM MP Imtiyaz Jalil organised a biryani party.The protests outside the KDMC headquarters in Kalyan saw the participation of members of many opposition parties, meat sellers’ associations and community groups. Holding live roosters and chickens, they raised slogans to slam the local civic body’s order to close meat shops and abattoirs on Independence Day.The protests, led by Congress district president Sachin Pote Sachin Pote, demanded an immediate rollback of the ban calling it as unfair and unnecessary. “A rooster wakes people up in the morning. Today, we brought roosters to wake up the administration,” said Pote.The KDMC recently issued an order stating all slaughterhouses and licensed butchers of goats, sheep, chickens, and large animals must remain closed for 24 hours from midnight of August 14 till midnight of August 15. It warned of action under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, if the order was violated.In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel organised a ‘biryani party’ at his residence to express his opposition to the move.Jaleel said, “I have cooked chicken biryani along with a vegetarian dish. If the municipal commissioner comes and asks for vegetarian food, then I will offer it to him. But the government should not tell us what we should eat and what we should not.”“Such things should be stopped. This unfortunate decision (of meat ban) was taken on account of Independence Day,” he added.Jaleel also hit out at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying had the CM directed the commissioner to withdraw the order, the matter would have ended there.“They say we can eat (meat) but it will not be made available in the market. What is the government trying to gain by issuing such orders?” Jaleel asked.Apart from KDMC and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the municipal corporations in Nagpur, Nashik, Malegaon too issued similar orders, leading to a political row in the state.While opposition parties criticised the move, the BJP argued that the policy of keeping abattoirs shut on Independence Day was first implemented in 1988 when NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar was chief minister.CM Fadnavis made it clear that the state government was not interested in regulating people’s food choices and described the row over abattoir closures as an “unnecessary” controversy.
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