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wishes, are they not becoming hypocrats? To be loyal to these great seers & leaders, all the right-thinking people, especially, the intelligentsia should now reconsider their attitudes & whims and the governments & vested interests should stop forever of thinking of necessities of abattoirs - the destroyers of all norms of humanity and entire growth - and bury their plans of setting up new abattoirs in this country. Rather they should employ their energies in improving the cattle wealth of the country and agriculture & culture of this once great mankind path showing nation.
As regards other aspects of this subject, science, health, hygiene, diseases, violence, violent mind & terrorism, etc related with slaughtering, violence & abattoirs, they will be discussed at length in other part of series of this writing.
IS KACHARAKANAHALLI ABATTOIR NEEDED?
A big controversy has been raging for sometime about the proposed mechanised abattoir at Kacharakanahalli near Bengalooru at a staggering cost of Rs. 5.80 Crore by the Government of Karnataka, though Bengalooru Animal Food Corporation, champions of the new venture, who have vexed themselves eloquent, extolling the virtues of mechanised slaughter houses and hygienic conditions obtainable therein. While maintaining that there will be no increase in the number of big animals presently being slaughtered in various abattoirs in the city and that only a marginal increase is expected in the number of smaller animals, they also do not forget to mention that animals will be slaughtered in neat surrounds after stunning them. Attempts have also been made to dispel the cruelty being meted out to the hapless creatures in the present slaughter houses. The case has been cleverly put across and a good window dressing has been given. On the surface it sounds to be a good case in favour of Kacharakanahalli abattoir, but one has to just scratch below the skin to see through the whole issue in its true colour. Let us examine the issues one by one. No sentimental clap-trap just hard facts.
The mechanisation - a step towards automation - itself raises the issue of the scale at which the new venture is being proposed. Mechanisation is an end to seek mass production. Even if present level of slaughter is maintained for sometime to curb criticism, as soon as the issue cools, the management may most probably put in for utilisation of idle capacity and the number of animals slaughtered big & small, both may increase manifold. The export targets set for the future are clear indicators in this direction and the past ten years' records of Mumbai's Deonar Abattoir are a glaring example. This issue should further be examined from three angles - one, can a government of the people go totally against the grain of its majority population who see mass slaughter as a depth blow to their age old heritage of non-violence propounded by Lords Buddha, Mahaveera, Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, Jayaprakash Narayan, and its own sensibilities; two, can our dwindling animal population afford this further phenomenal erosion. The following figures speak for themselves and for the poor farmers who will starve if the animals disappear from the scene.
