Mumbai, Aug 15 (PTI) The 1987 Maharashtra government order being cited by the current dispensation with regards to the ban on meat sales on Independence Day in several parts of the state was just a suggestion and not a directive, NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad said on Friday.
The BJP has said the policy to keep abattoirs shut on Independence Day was first implemented in 1988 when NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar was the chief minister of Maharashtra.
Speaking to reporters at a hotel in Kalyan, where meat was served as a protest against the civic move, Awhad said, “I have a copy of the government resolution of 1987, which everyone has quoted in the last few days. One should read it and tell me where it is written about the ban on the sale of meat on Independence Day. It was a suggestion and not a decision of the then government.” Why did Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation take such a decision, but not Thane Municipal Corporation or Brihanmumbau Municipal Corporation, he questioned.
Various municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including Kalyan-Dombivli (in Thane district), Nagpur, Nashik, Malegaon and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, have issued orders directing closure of slaughterhouses and meat shops within their jurisdiction on August 15.
“The government order is only about keeping the abattoir closed on Independence Day. We can accept that, but why restrict meat sales? The administration appears keen on creating divisions between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The GR says animal but chicken is a bird. I will not accept that this government does not understand the difference between animal and birds,” Awhad further said.
Asserting that conflicts are being created over unnecessary causes as well language, religion and regions, he said the KDMC commissioner must improve the condition of roads rather than waste time on such unwarranted matters.
Awhad also alleged that police personnel visited the houses of some of his party workers and warned them against joining the meat ban protest.
“Are our workers some kind of terrorists,” he questioned.
He said leaders from like-minded parties had resolved not to follow the KDMC’s order on meat sales and consumption, and met in Kalyan to show unity against “unnecessary curbs”.
Awhad also slammed the Centre with regards of alleged poll irregularities and claimed the country was moving towards dictatorship. PTI ND BNM
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