Sacrifice on Bakar Id Is it humane - Is it legal?

Hargij nahi pahunchte Allaha ke pas kurbanio
ke gost aur unke khun,
Albata pahunchta hai alllah ke pas tumhara
Takana aur prahejgari

(Kuran
Soor- e- haz)

Every year Id ul Julha commonly known as Bakari Id is celebrated in whole world. A
festival of joy converts into big killing spree hurting strong feelings of
animal lovers. The photos shown above shows that how much inhumane is this act.
Under Provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 it is illegal
even to exhibit the performance of animals in films where no killing takes
place but on Bakari Id day This can be seen every where in the country. Millions
of speechless animals irrespective of Camel, cow, goat are brutally slaughtered
in name of religion heartening the sentiments of animal lovers & depriving
good milk to children.

All religions propagate compassion to speechless animals. Fundamental duties
Article 51-A  of our Constitution decided  that  It shall be the duty of every citizen of India
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers, & wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures & directed under

Directive

Principle of State article 48 that The State Shall endeavor to organize agriculture & animal Husbandry on modern and Scientific lines and in particular take steps in preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of
Caws, Calves & other Milking animals. Though Article 25 provides Freedom of conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion (Subject to public order,morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are
equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practise and propagate religion)  but clarifies that Nothing in this article

shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State
from making any law.

Different religions were propagating & parasitizing  their traditional rituals like early marriage,
immolation of widow with deceased husband(Sati pratha) Sacrifice on different
festivals. But, different Acts were enacted to prohibit these rituals in public
interest . Sharda Act prohibited early marriage & there is absolute ban on
even glorifying Sati . Old tradition of road side sacrifice & in Temples are curbed under
different Act & Rules. All these Acts and Rules are applicable irrespective
of Cast & Creed. Some are here as under:

 Indian Penal Code  429 puts rigorous punishment on mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming
or  rendering useless any elephant, camel, horse, mule, buffalo,bull, cow, or ox , what so

ever may be the value thereof , or any animal of the
value of fifty Rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment or with
fine or both

Prevention of Cruelty Act of 1960 was enacted to prevent cruelty to animals and its Rules

regulates Transportation of
Animals, Slaughterhouses, Establishment of Societies for Providing Compassion
to Animals (SPCA) etc

 

Under the provisions of Constitution of India States enacted suitable Act & rules
prohibiting slaughter of animals. like Maharastra Government enacted The
Maharastra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (9 of 1977), West Bengal Animal
slaughter Control Act, 1950 (22of 1950) etc. Karnataka Prevention of Cow
Slaughter & Preservation of Cattle Act, 1964. etc

 

On the eve of Bakari Id we find ourselves helpless and watch the gross violation of
Union & State Acts & Rules. Preparation starts many month in advance
& we find” king of desert “ Camel near the sea towns like Chennai , Mumbai
Kolkata .  Herds of good healthy Cow& other animals can be seen most cruelly transported from one corner of
country to other corner without respecting legal provisions and sentiments of
animal lovers. Apart from gross violation of law of the land, as a matter of
fact it attracts contempt of Honorable Supreme Court decision by Hon’ble
Justice J Majumdar, Justice Kuldeep Singh & Justice B.L. Hansaria  in Civil Appeal No. 6790, etc of  1983 Wst Bengal State V/s. Ashutosh Lahiri & Others,
(civil Appellate  Jurisdiction) AIR 1995S.C. 464

As mentioned above, under Directive to State Principle 48, States enacted law to
prohibit Slaughter & West Bengal Animal slaughter Control Act, was enacted in 1950 & under the provisions of its Sec. 12  State Government  exempted the slaughter of Healthy cows on the occasion of Bakri Idd. The order was challenged in Calcutta
High Court and The Division Bench of Calcutta High Court issued a mandamus to
the applicants calling upon them to forbear from giving any exemption under
Sec. 12 of the Act in respect of slaughter of cows on the occasion of Bakari Id
day therein after. West Bengal Government preferred appeal for its order
restoration (permission for slaughter on Bakari Idd). Which was rejected .

 

The onorable Court decided the issue after discussing different issues like
religious obligation, democracy, old tradition etc & held that There is no
Religious obligation : In reference Honorable Court observed The  Constitution
Bench  decision of this  Court
in  Mohd. Hanif  Quareshicase1 at (SCR) page 650of the  report
speaking  through Das, C.J  Hamilton's  translation of Hedaya, Book XLIII at
page 592 that  it is the duty of every free Mussalman arrived at the age of maturity, to offer a sacrifice on
the I'd Kurban, or festival of the sacrifice, provided he be then possessed  of Nisab and be not a
traveller.  The sacrifice established for one  person is a goat and that for seven
a cow or  a  camel. 

It does not  appear o  be  obligatory hat  a person must sacrifice  a ow.  Once the religious purpose
of  Muslims consists of making sacrifice f any animal which should be a healthy animal, on BakrI'd, then slaughtering
of cow is not the  only  way of arrying out  that sacrifice.Itis, therefore, obviously not an
essential religious purpose but an ptional  one.

Therefore,  held hat before the State  can  exercise the exemption power  under
Section  12  in onnection with laughter of any healthy animal covered by the Act, it must be shown that such
exemption is necessary to be granted for sub serving  an essential religious, medicinal or  research purpose.  If granting of such exemption is not
essential  or necessary for effectuating uch a purpose no such  exemption
can  be  ranted  so as to bypass the  thrust f  the main provisions of the
Act.

For lifting the ban it should be shown that it is essential  or necessary
for a Muslim to sacrifice a healthy cow on Bakr I'd day and if such is the
requirement of religious purpose then it ay enable the State in its wisdom to lift the  ban  at
least on BakrI'd day.  But that is not he position. If any optional religious purpose
enabling the Muslim to  sacrifice  healthy cow on BakrI'd is  made the
subject-matter of an exemption under Section 12 of the Act then such exemption
would get granted for a purpose which is not an essential one and to that
extent the exemption  would be treated to ave been lightly or cursorily granted. Such is
not the  scope  and ambit of  ection  12. 

One submission as also noted that a person with six other members of his family may  afford
to sacrifice  a cow but may not be ble to afford to  sacrifice seven  goats, and it was observed that in such a
case  there may  be an conomic  compulsion  although here  was no religious
compulsion. In this  connection, Das C.J. eferred to the historical  background
regarding  cow slaughtering  from he  times  of   ughal emperors.  Mughal   Emperor
Babur  saw  the wisdom of prohibiting the slaughter of ows as and by way of religious sacrifice
and directed  his son Humayun  to ollow  this. Similarly, Emperors kbar, Jehangir and Ahmad Shah,  it  is said,
prohibited  cow slaughter.

In the ight  of this historical  background it was held that total ban on cow
slaughter did not offend  Article 25(1) f the Constitution. In view of
this settled legal position it becomes bvious that if there is no fundamental right of a Muslim to  insist on
slaughter of healthy cow on BakrI'd day, it cannot be a valid  ground
for exemption by the State under Sec. 2 which  would  in turn enable slaughtering of  such
cows  on Bakr I'd.

In this connection it is also  necessary to consider Quareshi case1 which
was heavily relied upon  by the High Court.The total ban on slaughter of cows even
on BakrI'd day  as imposed byBihar  Legislature under  Bihar Preservation  and
Improvement of  Animals  Act,  1955 was attacked  as  violation of the fundamental  right
of the petitioners under Article 25 of the Constitution.  Repelling this contention the Constitution
Bench held that even though Article 25(1) granted to all persons the freedom to
profess, practice  and  propagate religion, as slaughter of  cows  on BakrI'd was not an essential religious practice for Muslims,  total
ban on cow's slaughter on all days including  BakrI'd day would  not be violative of Article
25(1).    

 Dear friends, legislation and judiciary did their job by enacting prohibition on slaughter, restriction on transportation
& even in upholding and directing the Government to stop this heinous, most
cruel crime. BUT Scenario is totally different.   We all have to wake up, create public
movement  and compel Government machinery to implement the law of land in letter & spirit & tell them otherwise
to face CONTEMPT.