J&K ‘routine’ order on Eid eve banning animal slaughter kicks up a storm

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has asked for immediate stoppage of slaughter of cows, calves, camels and other animals for religious sacrifice and threatened action against the offenders just ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. This communiqué triggered protest on social media and reactions from religious bodies, but the officer who issued the order said it was routine procedure following a communication from the Animal Welfare Board of India.

The Muttahida Majlis Ulema (MMU), an amalgam of religious bodies, however, said it was government “interference in religious matter”. The organisation has convened a meeting this weekend to chalk out a course of action. The order was perceived as a directive of ban on animal sacrifice, a practice on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha. Eid will be celebrated on July 21.

At the moment, there is no law in J&K that bans sacrifice of animals for religious occasions as Section 298 of Ranbir Penal Code that banned cow slaughter in J&K was abolished on August 5, 2019, when J&K was stripped of its special status and the state was downgraded into two Union Territories. The letter issued by the Animal, Sheep and Fisheries department had ‘stoppage of illegal killing/sacrifice of cows/calves, camels and other animals and taking action against offenders for violation of transport of animals, rules on the occasion of Bakra Eid’, as the subject line.


MMU chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, currently under house detention, termed the order as an infringement of religious rights and freedom. The Ulema has called a meeting on Sunday to discuss the matter and convey its decision to the people. “Government should immediately revoke this arbitrary and discriminatory order,” an MMU statement said.