Mahavir Jayanti: Jain community urges meat traders to shut shops on the occasion

Jain community's appeal comes after the recent ruling by the Bombay High Court to allow the vendors to open shop on the day of Mahavir Jayanti.

Edited By: Sohit Mishra

Updated: April 9, 2017, 8:59 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/mahavir-jayanti-jain-community-urges-meat-traders-to-shut-shops-on-the-occasion-2009317/ Copy

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Mumbai, Apr 9: Appealing the slaughterhouse and meat retailers across Maharashtra to close operation on Sunday on the eve of Mahavir Jayanti, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Saturday urged all the meat wholesalers and retailers to respect the religious sentiments of the Jains and close their operations for a day. The BJP leader is also a patron of the Jain Shakti Foundation.

“Maharashtra is the only state, which now allows meat trade on Shri Mahavir Janma Kalyanak Day (Mahavir Jayanti). It is our earnest request to the slaughterhouses and meat retailers to close operations on Sunday, to respect our religious sentiments,” the BJP leader was quoted by The Indian Express.

MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha’s appeal comes after the recent ruling by the Bombay High Court to allow the vendors to set shop on the day of Mahavir Jayanti. A bench headed by Justice AS Oka on March 31, reversed the 2003 circular of the government that directed all the slaughterhouses and meat shops to remain closed during Mahavir Jayanti. (Also Read: No meat, no liquor on April 9 in Haryana on Mahavir Jayanti)

Responding to the court’s ruling, Lodha said that, “We recently came to know about the hearing and did not have enough time to appeal to the Supreme Court. Hence, we have appealed to the traders directly.”

Meanwhile, the Beef Dealers’ Association has declared that respecting the sentiments of Jains, they will not carry any slaughter on Sunday. “Following a meeting with the Jain association, we have decided to shut down slaughterhouses as a mark of respect to the Jains,” Mohammad Ali Qureshi, the president of the Beef Dealers’ Association said. However, Qureshi said that the shops will not carry any slaughter on Sunday but will sell the meat processed from Saturday.

In 2016, the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) opposed the closure of slaughterhouses and meat retailers during the holy period of Paryushan followed by the Jain community.