Gurugram: Amid a growing chorus for closure of meat shops during Navratri from Hindutva organisations and a section of political leaders in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, among others, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has urged the district administration in Haryana’s Jind to issue a directive to that effect.
The outfit submitted a memorandum to the district commissioner Wednesday, in which its state vice-president Radheshyam Chhillana urged the official to ensure meat shops in Jind remain shut during the nine-day Hindu festival that starts on 30 March.
“Today, we have come to submit a memorandum to the DC requesting that meat shops in the city and surrounding areas be closed during the Navratri period,” Chhillana told reporters in Jind. “This is a very important festival for Hindus. The DC assured us that for the past two years, he had taken action to close the shops, and gave us assurance that these shops would remain closed this year as well,” he added.
The Navratri festival coincides with the end of Ramazan this year and this has renewed discussions about balancing religious sentiments in a diverse nation.
Days earlier, BJP MLA Ravinder Singh Negi from Patparganj announced his intention to write to the district magistrate and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to request closure of meat shops during Navratri.
Negi, emphasising the festival’s sanctity for Sanatanis, reportedly said that “even if it (closure) isn’t enforced throughout the city, I will ensure it happens in my constituency”.
His demand found support among Hindutva outfits, with VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal advocating for a ban on meat sales in Delhi to “ensure devotees’ sentiments are not hurt”.
This is not a new phenomenon. In 2022, South Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Mukesh Suryan had sought the closure of meat shops during Navratri, citing public sentiment. Though unprecedented at the time, his demand set a precedent and BJP leader Parvesh Verma later argued that the ban be extended nationwide.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, BJP legislator Nand Kishor Gurjar has successfully pushed for meat shop closure during Navratri in recent years, though no formal state-wide order exists. In Haryana, where the BJP has been in power for long, such bans have become routine, often enforced by local administrations or Hindutva outfits like the Bajrang Dal.
In 2021, members of Hindutva groups forcibly shut down meat shops in cities like Faridabad and Palwal during Navratri, with some claiming police support. The suggestion was denied by the authorities, though.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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