The Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has banned the sale of meat and meat products on August 29 and September 1 for religious reasons. Meat and poultry were not available on August 25 too.
Bhayander municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said that they have only enforced a circular issued by the government of Maharashtra banning sale of meat on three days that are holy to the Jains.
When asked about the needs of Mira-Bhayander’s non-vegetarians, Kumar said that the ban is only for a day at a time. “Meat shops are closed only for a day. So people have the option of buying meat a day earlier,” said Kumar.
Mira-Bhayander has a diverse religious population that includes Muslims in Mira Road and a large number of East Indian Catholics in Bhayander, Uttan and Dongri, apart from Jains and Hindus. “The ban is constitutionally illegal and is being enforced because of pressure from some communities,” said advocate Godfrey Pimenta, a member of the East Indian community.
Soumen Mukherjee from Bhayander said that there has been a sort of ban on sale of meat since 2008 during a few days of Paryushan — a period of fasting that Jains are observing now.
“But meat shops were allowed to prepare and sell meat behind closed shutters. There is a complete ban this year,” said Mukherjee.
Narendra Mehta, former mayor of Mira-Bhayander and a Jain, said, “We had made a proposal in the house for a ban. We are not opposing non-vegetarians; we have only asked the corporation to ban slaughter of animals on these three days,” said Mehta who added that Jain trusts were ready to compensate families that earned their livelihood from slaughter of meat.
