File Photo: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
Amid a controversy over a four-day meat ban in Mumbai for a festival, the Shiv Sena today declared that it would not allow any such restriction.
"We will ensure there is no ban on sale of meat for the eight days," said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, taking a position completely at variance with that of its alliance partner BJP.
The ban was introduced in 1994 by the then Congress government, for a Jain festival of fasting. Ten years later, the two-day ban was extended to four days, but according to officials, never properly implemented.
An order passed on Monday by the city's civic body, ruled by the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition, makes it clear that this year, the sale and slaughter of meat will be banned on four days - Thursday, Sunday, September 17 and 18.
Sources say Maharashtra's ruling BJP had asked for the number of days to be extended to eight, but it was rejected by the civic body.
The Sena, which has a majority in the civic body, says the ban is insupportable and alleges a political move to appease the Jain community in Mumbai, which goes to polls in 2017.
The ban covers mutton and chicken, and excludes fish and eggs.
The Sena finds itself on the same side as the opposition NCP, and the Congress, which, ironically, introduced the ban. "Is it for the government to decide what I eat, what I drink, what I wear, where I sleep, when I speak? What you are seeing across the country is the creeping spectre of fascism," Congress leader Manish Tewari said.