Haryana asks slaughterhouses to stop meat sale till August 28 during Jain festival of Paryushan Parv

The appeal for a temporary ban on slaughtering animals and meat sale adheres to the Jain principle of non-violence, said an officer.

The letter issued by Kanwar Singh, Haryana Civil Services Officer, on behalf of the Director General Urban Local Bodies, dated August 18, stated, “During this year, Paryushan Parav (Jain festival) is being celebrated from August 20 till August 28th. I have been directed by the competent authority to request you to issue an appeal to all the slaughter houses falling in the municipal limits to follow a vegetarian way of life during the Paryushan Parv (Jain festival), i.e. from August 20 till August 28”.

It stated that the letter has been issued as per the directions from the financial commissioner and the principal secretary to the Haryana Government, “in compliance with the orders dated August 17, 2010, of the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court in a civil writ petition 14565 of 2010”.

According to the 2011 census, the Jains constitute approximately 0.22 per cent of the total population of Haryana. The community is mostly settled in the urban areas of Haryana, including in the districts of Hisar, Rohtak, Gurugram, Panipat, Faridabad, and Ambala. Jains observe a nine-day fasting period as part of self-purification on the occasion of Paryushan Parv.

The government officers said that “it is only an appeal” to the slaughterhouses and is not binding upon them. “There was a controversy in 2015 when it was perceived that the government had issued a binding order on the slaughterhouses to forcibly shut down their operations. But, it was not the case. It is only an appeal that the government has issued to these slaughterhouses,” an officer said.