Eid-ul-Zuha: Maharashtra government curbs on animal transport upsets Congress, NCP leaders

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena's 'secular credentials' within the ruling coalition in Maharashtra seem to have taken a beating, as several Muslim leaders from the Congress and the NCP are miffed with the "unreasonable restrictions" being imposed on bringing animals to Mumbai and other cities for sacrifice during Eid-ul-Zuha.

The government has said the curbs were only on bulk transportation of animals, and that families could bring in one or two goats or buffaloes. While officials cited the risk of crowding in markets selling the animals in cities, the leaders said it was not feasible to transport one goat in a vehicle. They also complained that the police had stopped vehicles transporting these animals outside city limits in several places.

The comments made by these leaders were primarily targeted at the Sena. When the Congress and NCP joined hands with the Sena to form the government last year, the two parties had gone to great pains to explain that the Sena was "secular' and different from the BJP.


Minority development minister Nawab Malik, however, tried to brush aside the criticism, saying that Muslims weren't aggrieved and that just a few leaders were creating an issue. While leaders of the Congress have come out in the open criticising the coalition government, those in the NCP haven't raised the objections publicly as the party holds the home portfolio.

Congress leader Naseem Khan told ET that the government was putting hurdles in the community celebrating Eid.

"The government had placed guidelines which we are following. However, we are getting complaints from people across the state about the police not allowing the animals to enter the municipal limits. Either the government's instructions were an eyewash or the police are not listening to them," he said.

Another Congress leader and Mumbadevi MLA Amin Patel, however, said even vehicles with one or two animals were being stopped.