Just a fortnight from the mass-scale animal slaughter in the first week of October 2014 our planet turned topsy-turvy. Cyclone Hud Hud in the Indian Subcontinent, Typhoon Vongfong in Japan, an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale in Central America, one of the worst snowstorms of all times in Nepal which was termed ‘unseasonal’ by experts, Hurricane Gonzalo in Bermuda and Britain and the very severe Cyclonic storm Nilofar in the central Arabian sea. It is no coincidence, it is nature.
Our ancients told us that cow is the source of nourishment of Creation. You nurture them, there is prosperity. You kill them, there is chaos. Chaos is what the world is experiencing…that too in the name of God.
In the name of qurbaani or bali, animal killing is justified by certain groups of people, Eid and Gadhimai Festival being u n popular examples, and the world has to pay a price for it – in the form of calamities, pollution and health risk. Usually the animals that are killed are ill-kept and are host to a plethora of diseases , which get transmitted to us not only through their meat, but also through their blood which flows
into the drains and rivers and seeps into our lands causing land and water pollution and is served back to us in the form of treated water and vegetables that grow in the infected fields. As an added benefit the creation revolts, in ways more than one as seen earlier in this article.
The strange thing is…no one seems to mind it. Speaking of India alone, and within India, of the state of Bengal, more than two lakh cattle are killed in a single day in the state – illegally, inhumanly and unhygienically, yet the authorities are mum, as is the media. They say they do not want to be communal, everyone has right to practice religion.
There was no news of pollution caused on the day of Eid due to reckless animal killing but the media was flooded with news reports of the massive pollution caused by crackers all through the Diwali week. Ironical, isn’t it? Here, I would like to point out that animal killing is not only inhuman, anti-environment but also antireligion, that is, anti ALL religions and faiths since all religions are rooted in common principles.
Every religion of the world insists upon protecting the weak and of sacrificing self-interest for thelarger interest of creation. To quote Yogi Ashwini ,“Qurbaani or bali or s a c r i f i c e is of something that is dear to you, your own desires, not of an innocent life.” History gives us several examples of exemplary sacrifices such as Rishi Dadhichi giving his life to protect devtas w h i c h led to the formation o f Vajra possessed by Indra, Lord Ram offering his lotus eyes to Devi Durga, Raavan sacrificing ten heads in his ode to Shiva, Puru sacrificing his youth for his father Yayati, Hidimba sacrificing her son Ghatotkach for the greater cause which gave her the pedestal of Devi Hidimba, Barbari – the son of Ghatotkach cutting his head to let truth triumph over
evil in the war of Mahabharat and innumerable more. That is sacrifice. Let us not take god’s name to justify atrocities against animals. The implications on our health, environment and creation at large are severe.
