Goddess leads devotees in vegetarian sacrifice

Kathmandu, October 7, 2010 – Today the goddess Kali demonstrated a group of fifty devotees how to sacrifice in a Symbolic Puja at Dakchhinkali Temple. “I do not need animal blood. I am happy with fruits and vegetables so please offer me vegetarian sacrifices,” the blue-tongued goddess said before slashing a pumpkin into half.

The devotees, a gathering of social and animal rights campaigners, followed the fierce looking goddess Kali (played by actor Durga from Shilpee Theater) in sacrificing pumpkins and coconuts, in a ritual that according to the campaigners has a firm basis in the country’s ancient traditions.

The puja was organized by AWNN as part of a novel campaign against animal sacrifices that take place during Dasain festival.

Earlier this year AWNN launched a 5-year campaign against animal sacrifice and cruel sports. The homegrown movement was born during Gadhimai festival which saw the killing of some 200,000 animals in the span of 24 hours in November 2009. The campaign is supported by a growing number of spiritual and society leaders, including the well known comedian duo MAHA.

The network is requesting the President, Prime Minister, army and police to cancel state funded animal sacrifices during Dasain. “Nepal is the world’s key implementers of animal sacrifice, a practice that promotes superstition and violence, drains the poor and prevents Nepal from becoming a truly advanced country. Decapitating a bleating buffalo or goat should not be the symbol of the Nepali civilization,” AWNN urges.

AWNN also argues that a vegetarian diet improves people’s health and helps to save the planet. It is believed that 90% of random meat samples in Kathmandu are contaminated with bacteria such as salmonella. As a result, the majority of typhoid cases in city dwellers are caused by infected meat.

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AWNN appeals to Nepal Army: Stop Animal Sacrifices

Kathmandu, March 22, 2010 - The Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) appeals to the Nepal Army to cancel its blood sacrifices, starting this Chaite Dasain. The campaigners argue that animal sacrifices conducted by the army condone state supported animal cruelty. According to the campaigners ‘decapitating a bleating buffalo or goat should not be the symbol of Nepali civilisation’.

In letters to the Chief of Army Staff, campaigners say the time has come to abolish animal sacrifices conducted by the Nepal Army. Blood sacrifices promotes superstition and violence, drain the poor and prevent Nepal from becoming a truly advanced country,” the campaigners argue.

The Nepal Army during Chaite and Bada Dasain sacrifices water buffaloes and goats at the guard houses at Hanuman Dhoka at Kathmandu and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The rites last about two hours and are concluded after the military commander smears each of the banners with the sacrificial blood.

The campaigners argue that these sacrifices condone State supported animal cruelty. “It may be a part of our tradition that the khukuri wielded in the battlefields first had to draw the blood of sacrificial animals. However, our enemies today are not demons. It is superstition, fatalism, poverty and social inequity that plagues our society,” the campaigners argue.

The argument that animal sacrifices are part of army culture and tradition is not a valuable argument to commence these practices, according to AWNN. “Nepal, realizing the adverse effects, has abolished a number of ‘traditions’ in the past, including human sacrifice and widow burning,” the campaigners note.

According the AWNN now is the right time to address the controversial issue of animal sacrifice. The network invites the Nepal Army to show that it ‘indeed is a progressive force in society’ by sacrificing fruits and vegetables instead of animals.

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