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AHIMSA TIMES - AUGUST 2008 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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reversed after shifting to Deonar for the sake of earning foreign exchange. The present capacity is to kill 4000 Animals every day. The strength of the plant is 1200 workers. 32 doctors are appointed for certification purpose. 50% of the meat gets exported to Arabian and gulf countries. 17 lakh litres of water is required daily for slaughter. Animals are captured from the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, M. P., Maharashtra and U.P. to be killed here in Mumbai. It is estimated that 10 crore animals have been killed till date. Total Animal Wealth of Rs.8000 Crore has been washed out.
Several Jain organisations and vegetarian groups have stalled the expansion of the city's largest abattoir at Deonar, demanding an end to the slaughtering of animals to export meat Earlier this month, several Jain associations met at Kandivli for an urgent meeting. Their aim was to thwart plans of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to expand and modernise the city's largest abattoir at Deonar. The campaigners were mostly Jain associations, though they have been supported by Hindu and vegetarian groups. They also claim to have the backing of some Muslim corporators in the BMC who own and manages the abattoir. At the next meeting, organised by the groups at Ghatkopar, a Shwetambar Saint Chandrasekhar Vijayji announced that he will undergo Santhara', the Jain tradition of fasting to death, if the expansion plan for the slaughterhouse were not put on hold.
Sunil Cheddha of Vardhaman Sanskar Dham, one of the groups that participated in the meeting said, "When Chandrasekharji announced his decision to fast, we had no option but to start our campaign. Other groups joined us and we met senior municipal officers to convince them to abandon their plan to expand the abattoir" . Among the groups that have joined the campaign with the Jains, are the Warkari Samaj and other Vaishnavite groups. They have also approached groups like the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for support. The pressure from the groups has been so great that the expansion plan have been stalled for the time being and the issue will be put to vote again in the BMC.
The campaigners dug out municipal documents that traced the construction of the abattoir to the seventies. "The Deonar abattoir was set up to meet the demands for meat in Mumbai. But at present, 60 per cent of the meat processed there is exported, mostly to the Middle East," said Mukesh Vardhan of a group called the Hinsa Virudhak Sangh.
"The meat exports started in 1973 when the BMC realised that the abattoir was under-utilised. The BMC is a public organisation and cannot use its facilities for commercial purposes," said Yogesh Shah, another member of Hinsa Virudhak Sangh. When the exports started, a group called the Akhil Bharatiya Hinsa Nivarak Sangh filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court asking for a ban on the trade. Though the court did not stay the exports, the petition was admitted in 1994. The petition is still pending hearing in the court.
The exports have not yet stopped but the activists hope to get a proposal banning the exports at the next meeting of the municipal standing committee where the proposal will be discussed again. "Senior municipal officials have promised that an order banning meat exports from Deonar abattoir will be passed. We will work to get the ban order passed," said Shah.
In 1993 too, vegetarian groups protested the export of meat from the Deonar abattoir. Though the BMC promised to stop slaughtering animals for meat exports, the trade continued. However, this time, the protesters are determined to stop the sale of meat abroad. "We have demanded representation in the committee that is looking at the modernisation plans of the abattoir, to ensure
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