'We Don't Eat Even Onion-Garlic': East Delhi Mayor Joins Chorus Seeking Closure of Meat Shops During Navratri

East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sundar Agarwal on Tuesday appealed to meat sellers to “understand Hindu sentiments” and close their shops during the auspicious Navratri period, a move he said would “promote harmony”.

“As of now, it’s an appeal. We don’t consume even onion-garlic during Navratri. So, I’ve appealed to all meat sellers to understand Hindu sentiments and close their shops on those days. It’ll promote harmony,” Agarwal said.

He added: “Besides this, we’ve a rule that slaughterhouses won’t function on Saptami, Ashtami and the day of Navratri. If slaughterhouses will be closed, meat will not be sold.”

Navrati is a nine-day Hindu festival which began on April 2 and will end on April 11.

On Monday, South Delhi Mayor Mukkesh Suryaan wrote a letter to the civic body’s commissioner asking that meat shops be closed till April 11. The commissioner, however, did not comment on whether any such order will be issued or not.

In his letter, he said the “religious beliefs and sentiments” of devotees are affected when they come across meat shops on their daily visits to the temple.

“People forgo even the use of onion and garlic, and the sight of meat being sold in open or near temples makes them uncomfortable,” the mayor claimed. “Their religious beliefs and sentiments are also affected when they come across meat shops or when they have to bear the foul smell of the meat on their way to offer daily prayers to the goddess.”

Suryaan said that some meat shops dump waste in gutters or on roadsides and stray dogs feed on it. “It is not only unhygienic but an appalling sight for passersby,” he said. The mayor claimed that closing meat shops was necessary to maintain cleanliness around temples.

There are around 1,500 registered meat shops in the jurisdiction of the SDMC.

The move by the BJP-led civic body in the national capital came days after similar orders were issued in neighbouring Ghaziabad, in Uttar Pradesh. It was, however, revised a day later and a fresh directive issued. It said meat shops should be situated beyond a 50-m radius of religious places and no slaughter of animals should take place inside the shop. The directives also said that curtains/tinted glass should be used to ensure that meat is not visible to the public.

The Aligarh district panchayat has also ordered the closure of meat shops during Navratri.

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