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The Supreme court has stayed an Orrisa high court judgment which banned animal or bird sacrifice during the ‘Chatar Yatra’ festival. Chatar Jatra or Chatar Yatra is a traditional festival celebrated by the people of Kalahandi District Orissa. The festival consists of large animal sacrifice and even though this malpractice has been curtailed by the state it continues and about 50,000 animals are sacrificed.
In a public interest litigation filed by a social activist namely Jayanti Das, the high court of the state banned the evil practise of such animal sacrifice in the name of religion and thus recognized the rights of the animals. The bench comprising of justices S. Panda and SK. Sahoo rightly observed that these kinds of rituals reflect cruelty, superstition, fear, and therefore have nothing to do with religion and culture and thus must be abolished. Further, it issued direction to the district administration to spread awareness among people and educate them to develop a sensitive approach against such abhorrent and dastardly practices. The court strictly ordered that no person including the state shall be allowed to sacrifice any animal or bird during the occasion and thus particularly requested the tribal community to desist from such ‘rituals’ which are against the basic nature of mankind.
Referring to the Supreme court judgment, the high court observed, “God is the creator of the universe. He has created human beings, animals, birds, and all the species on this earth. The animals and birds breathe like us. They have also a right to live in harmony with human beings and nature. Like the parents cannot tolerate seeing the blood of their children, the deity cannot be pleased by sacrificing the animals. No deity would ever ask for the blood. All deities are kind-hearted and bless humanity to prosper and live in harmony with each other.”
Last year, the Tripura High court also banned animal sacrifice in the name of religion and observed that they also have a constitutional right of protection under article 21. While agreeing to hear the appeal filed against this judgment, the Supreme Court had granted a partial stay of the High Court order with a caveat that any slaughtering can be done in accordance with the law and an area set up by the municipal authority. CJI Bobde remarked that a dichotomy allowing the killing of animals and consuming them and not allowing such killing in the name of religion.
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