Most of us celebrated Diwali this year with sweets, rangolis and a few crackers. But a bunch of youths from Manor, a town in Thane district, celebrated the festival of lights in a different way: they made cows and buffalows run across a line of fire while they cheered wildly.
Animal lovers are up in arms after a person from Manor recently posted on Facebook such photos with a caption, Happy Diwali. He claims it is a ritual in rural Maharashtra to make cows and buffalows run across a line of fire, and captioned them 'Happy Diwali'.
The photographs, posted by Amey Patil last Firday, shared by several furious activists on Facebook, show a group of youths laughing and herding the cows as they were made to run through fire. When several people posted their objections, Patil said Diwali was celebrated like this in the interiors. He removed the post hours later.
The Peace for Animals Welfare Association (PAWA), an NGO, immediately approached Palghar police station, demanding an animal cruelty case against Patil and others. The Palghar cops, however, told the NGO people to approach Manor police station as it fell under their jurisdiction.
"I met Amey Patil to make him aware about what a cruel thing he was doing. He said that such a ritual is practised in several rural pockets of the state and the cows belonged to him. He said not a single cow was hurt. There needs to be more awareness about such issues," Salim Charania, president, PAWA, said.
"This ritual is supposed to ensure that cows are healthy in their next life! People need to know that if they inflict any injury on animals, wherever it may be, it will not go unnoticed. There are many of us who are willing to fight for these animals."
Patil told dna that this was a ritual practised on Bali pratipada by farmers. "I did not take part in it. As part of this ritual, the husk of wheat is set on fire and the cow is made to jump over it. Even the owner is supposed to do the same. Sometimes, children tend to throw crackers into the fire. But none of the animals was hurt." Patil is a student.
Senior inspector Nilesh Mineker said: "We have asked the complainant to approach the Manor police station. This is a common ritual. How much can the police do in such a case?"
