A Muslim organisation has come out with an advisory for community members on sacrifice of animals.
Highlights
- Advisory asks Muslims to sacrifice only brown or black-coloured animals
- It also urges peaceful resolution in case of any confrontation
- Advisory comes in wake of violence by alleged cow vigilantes
A leading Muslim organisation has asked people not to sacrifice white-coloured animals on Bakrid this Tuesday lest cow vigilantes mistake it for a cow. In front page advertisements published in leading Urdu newspapers, the organisation has come out with a four-point advisory on how the celebrate the festival that is as old as their religion, Islam.
The ads come against the backdrop of continuing instances of cow vigilantism that have continued despite appeals from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who spoke against mob violence and killings in the name of cow protection, and faith.
But PM Modi's appeals haven't deterred the cow vigilantes in Uttar Pradesh where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called cow protection among his top priorities. Muslims make for one-fifth of the state's 20 crore population.
Just a few days back, municipal employees in state capital Uttar Pradesh tasked to catch stray cattle were thrashed by goons who reportedly assumed the employees were cow traders and were going to take the cows for slaughter. In the last six months, employees said, there had been more than a dozen such instances.
Under these circumstances, Muslims should sacrifice only brown or black-coloured animals to avoid being targetted, said the advisory published in prominent Urdu newspapers such as Roznama Rashtreey Sahara and Inquilab. The ads were issued by "Jamiat Ulma-I-Hind", a leading body of Muslim organisation.
If trouble makers still try to prevent sacrifice of the animal, it asked people to take the elders and the administration into confidence to seek a resolution. If this doesn't help, the advisory asked Muslims to go to an area for the sacrifice where this would be possible.
In any case, the advisory asked the Muslims not to get into a confrontation or lose hope, but calmly face the situation with peace and a sense of brotherhood.
Muslim leaders say they too had some apprehensions and had recently met the state's police chief Sulkhan Singh. "This Bakrid, the Muslims are apprehensive," he said, adding that the police chief had assured them of adequate security arrangements for the festival.