In a bid to stop transportation of cows to West Bengal for sacrifices for Eid al-Adha also known as Bakri Eid on August 22, head of a central animal safety committee has met administrative officers of bordering states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha to ensure that vehicles carrying livestock are not allowed to pass those states into Bengal.
“I anticipate that the West Bengal state government will not cooperate and thus in the past one week, I have toured the three states and met the chief secretaries there. I have also talked to the governors of the three states and urged them to take necessary steps. SP of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand has promised me that no animals or vehicle carrying these animals would pass through his area. Animals are brought through this route straight to Pakur in Malda district in Bengal,” said Dr SK Mittal, convenor of the six-member National Inspection Committee to check illegal transportation, slaughter and sacrifice of animals.
He added that a helpline number has been put up on their website for people who would want to inform authorities about cruelty against animals. “If the rules are implemented properly then the cases of mob lynching will also come down because people will not have to take the law in their hands as they would see that implementing agencies are doing their jobs properly,” he added.
He said he would be visiting Kolkata on August 14 to seek an appointment with the Chief Secretary to discuss the matter with him. “I have already have information of different temporary markets being put up across the state for selling cows for sacrifice. We would want the state to take action against those. If the state did nothing I will meet the governor and urge him to call for central forces if need be, to prevent the sale and purchase of cows illegally through open markets across the state,” he said.
