Suppressing The Innocent

Everything on this planet has two sides to it, just like a coin. If we have advantages for something then we have disadvantages of it as well, if a person inherits some good habits, he will surely be having some bad ones. The same analogy can be applied to traditions. Where some traditions and beliefs protect cows in India and showcase them as a symbol of motherhood but on the other side there are various traditions where animals are brutally sacrificed.

The Gadhimai Festival is celebrated at the Gadhimai Temple of Bariyarpur, Bara District, Nepal in every five years. The festival is primarily celebrated by the Madeshi people wherein animals like Buffalos, Pigs, Goats, Chickens and Pigeons are sacrificed on a large scale with the goal of pleasing Goddess Gadhimai, the goddess of power. The Gadhimai Festival is known around the globe as “the world’s largest animal sacrifice”. Reports say that in 2009 over 5 lakh animals were slaughtered to be sacrificed. Last time in 2014 the number came down, still over 35,000 animals were sacrificed.

The origins of the Gadhimai date back to 265 year, when the founder of the Gadhimai Temple, Bhagwan Chowdhary, saw Goddess Gadhimai in his dreams asking for blood in return of freeing him from the prison, protecting him from the evil and promising prosperity and power to him. The goddess had asked for a human sacrifice but he successfully offered an animal sacrifice instead, and this tradition is continued till date.

It is believed that Goddess Gadhimai would fulfil all the wishes if people sacrifice an animal in the temple. And this tradition kills thousands of innocent animals every five years. People won’t work hard to fulfil their wishes, but they find it easier to murder an animal and then just wait for some magic to happen that will fulfil all their wishes.

Animals are forced to walk long distances in extreme weathers and kept off food and water till they reach the temple. Many even tie their animals to their cart or cycles. The animal activists on ground also reported that animals were sexually assaulted.

Around two hundred men enter an area enclosed with thousands of Buffalos in it. One by one their heads are decapitated using a sharp kukri knife. The helpless animals cannot even run away. The atmosphere is full of helplessness of the animals crying and panicking when they see others of their kind being ruthlessly killed. Even after being decapitated their bodies could be seen fluttering with pain. This is an apt example of how the powerful supresses the innocent and defenceless. It is clear that the habit of providing a blood sacrifice for the goddess has persisted for so long that it is very hard to change people’s mind set.

During the festivals the wings of thousands of Pigeons are clipped and they are thrown at the rooftop of the temple, to be slaughtered later. Though the festival lasts a few weeks, the slaughter typically takes place on the last two days. And it is in these last days that the pigeons are brought down and they are slaughtered mercilessly for their meat. Even after being decapitated their wings flutter, to fly again and be free animals, the way they were born. At the end of the festival the place is filled with blood and dead bodies of animals all around. Ask yourself why will any god or goddess want you to kill an innocent to please them and in return to fulfil your wishes.

Thousands of Buffalos, Goats and other animals are even smuggled from India for the festival. From India, there are two sources where these animals are being smuggled. From the Bihar side, it is Raxaul while from Uttar Pradesh side it is the Sonali border in Gorakhpur. It is not clear where the farmers who are facing the menace of stray cattle `willingly’ pass on these animals to the temple for the sacrifice.

Nepal’s temple trust announced the cancellation of all future animal sacrifices at the country’s Gadhimai festival in July 2015. Nepal’s supreme court directed the government to end the festival in 2016. Still the Nepalese government has not only decided to continue with the sacrifice, but they have also banned any filming or photographing during the festival. Even after writing to the Nepalese government by many activists, a government official commented that they would not “interfere in the centuries-old tradition of the Madheshi people.” In 2014, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs directed the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to monitor and make sure no animals got to Nepal for the festival.

Managing Director of the Humane Society International (India), Alokparna Sengupta told in a report on the telephone that smuggling of animals starts from India from September. “People know that checking during this time along the border would be intense so that start shifting the animals sometimes in September. As the Indi-Nepal border is porous the movement of animals is easy,” she said.

NG Jayasimha, HSI India representative, visited Nepal to ensure the ban was being adhered to. In an interview with the Times of India, he said, “I am very pleased that we were able to sit down with the Nepali politicians, to speak up for the hundreds of thousands of innocent animals who are condemned to an utterly unjustified beheading at Gadhimai. We also spoke directly to the Gadhimai temple and the local magistrate, so they can be in no doubt of the overwhelming call for compassion. We sincerely hope that they will act to stop this unnecessary bloodshed”. But even after the efforts of various activists, organisations and the order of supreme court, the festival took place in December,2019 with thousands of animals being slaughtered yet again.

It’s disheartening and astonishing to see that how no sincere attempts have been made to ban such festivals for once and for all and how the correct information about these festivals never makes it up to news channels or any social media platform. A change would never come if we just continue being ignorant and waiting for someone else to do it. Each and everyone of us is a hope to the planet and its wildlife.