Campaign Against Animal Sacrifice in Nepal
-
Upload
david-brazier -
Category
Documents
-
view
224 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Campaign Against Animal Sacrifice in Nepal
Animal Welfare Network Nepal
End Animal Sacrifices in Nepal Campaign
Animal Welfare Network Nepal solicits support for running
a 3 year campaign to end animal sacrifices in Nepal
General Objective
Conduct a campaign for a phase wise ban on animal sacrifices in Nepal.
Specific Objectives
1. Pressurize authorities and civil society to end animal sacrifice
2. Conduct grassroots education campaign
3. Conduct national awareness raising campaign
4. Collect and publicize data on animal sacrifice in Nepal
5. Sensitize media representatives and conduct media outreach activities
6. Coordination of international campaigns and formation of coalition
Duration: December 2009-December 2012
Responsible partners: Animal Welfare Network Nepal with Anti-Animal Sacrifice Alliance Nepal
Facts and Figures of Animal Sacrifices in Nepal
Animal sacrifice is conducted in most goddess temples
The total number of animals sacrifices annually is estimated to be a few hundred
thousand; most villages offer 250-1000 animals during Dasain festival
Sacrifices are generally conducted in the presence of children
There is no law to regulate animal sacrifice
The government supports sacrifices with subsidies
Annual Dasain sacrifices are shown life on national TV
Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists are all involved
Apart from known sacrifice through throat slitting and beheading other extreme forms
of blood sacrifices include the tearing apart of a live goat by young men, burning of live
snakes, live skinning of pigs, removal of hearts of live animals, et cetera
There is very little awareness about the welfare aspect of blood sacrifices
Priests are among the promoters of animal sacrifice
Grave abuse takes place in the transport and killing of the animals
Gadhimai festival takes place once every 5 years and ranks among the world’s worst
forms of animal cruelty
Introduction
Organisation profile
Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) is a network of committed animal welfare agencies
based in Kathmandu Valley. The AWNN Secretariat is presently housed at Animal Nepal, a
reputed animal rights NGO in Lalitpur District of Kathmandu Valley. AWNN was established in
2008 to increase the effectiveness of and interaction among animal welfare organisations in
Nepal. It is backed by the following objectives:
1. To coordinate the activities of animal welfare organizations. 2. To raise awareness on animal welfare issues among the public. 3. To lobby and advocate for animal rights. 4. To promote stray dog adoptions 5. To provide education and support to its members. AWNN in the first year of its existence focused on campaigning and lobbying by conducting the following activities:
1. Lobby for Animal Welfare Act with related Ministries 2. Coordinate the successful Stop Monkey Business Campaign to end the breeding and
export of monkeys for US labs (see www.stopmonkeybusiness.org) 3. Coordinate Worship Without Cruelty Campaign addressing animal cruelty in the name of
religion 4. Launch nationwide photography, poster and article writing competition called ‘Stop
Animal Cruelty’ with the motto Ragat Jota Ho Dukha Pani (Our blood is one, and so is our suffering)
5. Organise media campaign to sensitize the public on animal cruelty 6. Coordinate Stop Killings at Gadhimai campaign – the first homegrown movement
against mass scale blood sacrifices
Background on animal sacrifice in Nepal
Animal sacrifice is practiced by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or
changing the course of nature. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the
Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans and from the Aztecs to the Hindus.
Although many Hindus are vegetarian, there are Hindu temples in India as well as Nepal where
goats and chickens are sacrificed. These sacrifices are mainly done at mandirs following the
Shakti school of Hinduism where the female nature of Brahman is worshipped in the form of
Kali Ma and Durga.
The Hindu way of animal sacrifice/slaughter is called Jhatka, where the head of the animal is
severed completely by a single blow of a heavy sword. This is considered to be the most
merciful and painless death for the animal, as the spinal cord and the blood supply to the brain
are severed immediately. In some Indian states animal sacrifice has been banned. Today much
of the urban Indian Hindu community disapproves of
animal sacrifice. However in Nepal even in urban areas
animal sacrifice is practiced at a large scale with
goddess temples overflowing with blood on certain
days of the week. Attempts to stop the practice by the
Maoist-led government have been met with much
resistance.
Possibly the largest animal sacrifice in the world occurs
during Gadhimai festival in Bara district which is held
every five years. This tear, on November 24-25, some
250,000 animals were mutilated and beheaded in what may very well be the world's largest
religious slaughter. The Nepal's Government subsidized the Gadimai Festival, despite strong
local and international protest.
‘Our idols are made of
stone, but they drip
with the blood of our
fellow beings.’
However, Gadhimai is not the only blood festival in Nepal. Here people are found performing sacrificial
rituals in the majority of temples in the name of God. There is no law to regulate animal sacrifice.
Offenders who starve, torture or purposely slow down the killing of animals are not prosecuted.
Cruelty against animals harms society as a whole; it signals and normalizes insensitivity in
children who can become numb to the suffering of living beings, it is also known to influence
certain people to commit violence on other humans.
Sacrifices often strengthen the vested interest of those who benefit from superstition-based
beliefs and rituals. As Nepal is moving ahead to become a more fully democratic, egalitarian
society, it is crucial to challenge age-old beliefs which are not beneficial and drain the resources
of the poor and needy.
Unregulated sacrifice of such a baffling number of animals created unprecedented health risks
for humans. Due to the fact that the transport, killing,
disposal and preparation of the animals and their meat
goes unmonitored and the close proximity between
humans and animals, mass sacrifices can result in
widespread food poisoning (Salmonella, E coli,
Campylobacter, etc), Tuberculosis, as well as bird and
swine flu. Zoonosis have already been reported to be
caused by festivals such as Gadhimai.
To stop religious killings of animals in the coming days,
AWNN plans to conduct a three year extensive animal
awareness campaign aiming at a phase wise ban of the
practice of animal sacrifice in the name of God.
Animal Welfare Network Nepal’s ‘Stop Killings at Gadhimai Campaign’
AWNN in 2009 conducted an intense campaign aimed at stopping or reducing the offering of
hundreds of thousands of animals at Gadhimai Festival. The network joined forces with the Anti
Animal Sacrifice Alliance (AASA), a coalition of religious groups that has campaigned against
animal sacrifice since 2 years.
The organizations carried out the following activities:
1. Coordinate international protest – AWNN has reached out to international animal rights organization and the international media to be informed and speak out against Gadhimai. A few hundred letters were send to Nepalese leaders including personal requests from Maneka Gandhi, Brigitte Bardot, et cetera.
2. Organise Gadhimai Dharna – AWNN and AASA organized Gadhimai Dharna (programme for symbolic protest on animal sacrifice) at Patan Durbar by inviting Madan Krishna and
‘Decapitating a
bleating buffalo or
goat should not be the
symbol of the Nepali
civilization.’
Hari Bansha (Nepal’s well know comedians) and Silpee Theatre Group (drama performing group) to stop animal sacrifice at Gadimai Festival on November 24 and 25.
3. Petition – A petition signed by over 4,000 people was handed over to the related
ministers i.e. Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and Minister for Agricultural and
Cooperatives to request the government to stop the mass sacrifice of animals.
4. Leafleting and poster distribution- Pamphlets, Leaflets and Posters were distributed in
and around Kathmandu Valley and in Bariyapur of Bara District (venue of Gadhimai)
5. Organise press conferences – AWNN organized a number of press meets both in Kathmandu and Birgunj (close to Gadhimai venue) to inform media representatives about the campaign and about cruelty issues involved in animal sacrifice. Religious Leaders officers from related government agencies were invited to speak
6. Symbolic campaign – A symbolic sacrifice of coconuts was organized at the goddess
temple in Birgunj
7. Last minute appeal – organizers send an emotional last minute appeal to the organizers
of Gadhimai Festival to stop the mass sacrifice of animals. An sms campaign was
organized to pressurize the organizers on the first day of sacrifice.
Objectives of “End Animal Sacrifice in Nepal” Campaign
General Objective
Conduct a campaign for a phase wise ban on animal sacrifices in Nepal.
Specific Objectives
1. Pressurize authorities and civil society to end animal sacrifice
2. Conduct grassroots education campaign
3. Conduct national awareness raising campaign
4. Collect and publicize data on animal sacrifice in Nepal
5. Sensitize media representatives and conduct media outreach activities
6. Coordination of international campaigns and formation of coalition
Outputs
Ad 1 Pressurize authorities to end animal
sacrifice
1.1 File Lawsuits on Meat Act and Sacrifice
Activities:
- File lawsuit to pressurize government to enact Meat Act including humane
transportation and humane killing of livestock at Supreme Court
- File lawsuit to pressurize government to end animal sacrifice taking into consideration
human rights, environmental sanitation, health and religious sentiments towards Animal
Sacrifice.
1.2 Lobby for passing of Animal Welfare Act
Activities
- Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities - Organised lunch for lawmakers and authorities involved
1.3 Lobby for amendment and enforcement of Meat Act
In Khokana of Lalitpur there
is a similar sacrifice ritual in
which a goat is thrown into a
pond while participants jump
in to tear the animal apart
with their bare hands and
teeth.
Activities:
- Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities - Publish expose of multiple abuses conducted by livestock dealers, transporters and butchers
1.4 Lobby to include animals in new constitution Activities:
- Organize a workshop for CA members to include animal issue in constitution. - Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities
1.5 Introduce letter writing campaigns to
political parties and political leaders
Activities:
- Coordinate regular letter writing from local and
international organizations and individuals to
Nepalese parties and leaders
1.6 Pressurise public offices civil society
organizations to stop animal sacrifice in
their premises
Activities:
- Identify public and civil society offices where animal sacrifice is practiced
- Write letters to the organization requesting a ban - Expose these organizations when practice is not stopped
1.7 Conduct a ‘Visit Nepal 2011? Not over their dead bodies’ tourism industry
campaign
Activities:
- Survey among tourists to find out impact of animal cruelty on visitors - Workshop with industry representatives - Pressurize industry to accept an Anti-Animal Cruelty Code containing the following:
No visits to temples where sacrifice takes place
In Bhaktapur pigs are
skinned alive and their
chests opened, and the living
heart yanked out. The
screaming mercifully dies,
while its still-beating heart is
offered to the temple amidst
loud music.
Only sacrifice of fruits, vegetables, eggs at hotels, tour operators, public tourism buildings
Stop serving of meat from inhumanely killed animals
No misuse of working animals
Percentage of income set aside for animal welfare - Demonstrations at tourist fairs pressurizing government to abolish animal sacrifice
and introduce humane killing of animals - Posters / brochures directed at tourists explaining cruelty issues and what they can
do to prevent it
2. Conduct grassroots social mobilization campaign
2.1 Formation of social mobilizers’ groups
Activities
- Training for social mobilizers - Development of training manuals
2.2 Local media campaign
Activities
- Documentary preparation - Local FM broadcasts - Documentary festival
2.3 Produce educational materials
Activities
- Produce materials such as hoarding boards, posters, banners, sign posts, leaflets and brochures calling for an end to animal sacrifice
- Produce comic book for children about animal sacrifice - Produce a theatre play calling for an end to animal sacrifice
2.4 Conduct school visits in Bara District (Gadhimai area) with the help of comic books and
local education/theater teams
Activities
- Distribute comic books to schools in districts surrounding Gadhimai - Train local education teams - Train local theater groups
‘If we are indeed human
beings, why can't we
learn to be a little more
humane during a national
festival?’
It is morally wrong to
torture fellow creatures,
but to do so in the name
of religion is a sin. The
government should set an
example by stopping
official sacrifices.
2.5 Campaigning through FM stations and by pasting posters, distributing leaflets, brochures
at temples where animal sacrifice takes place.
3. Conduct nationwide awareness raising campaign
Activities:
- Organise 4 religious discourses by well known gurus
4. Collect and publicize data on animal sacrifice in Nepal
- Collect data and images for Animal Sacrifice study of Nepal - Use findings as advocacy tools
Activities:
- Appoint research coordinator - Develop research format - Create group of researchers in six zones of Nepal - Collect data and images - Data analysis, report writing, translation and publishing - Organizing press conference
5. Sensitize media representatives and conduct media outreach activities
Activities:
- Form Journalists for Animals group - Provide basic sensitization and reporting skills trainings for media representatives - Announce annual Stop Animal Cruelty Journalism award - Promote regular reports on cruelty in animal sacrifices across the country
6. Coordination of international campaigns and formation of coalition
Activities
- Form International Anti-Sacrifice coalition - Coordinate with Indian groups to conduct education programmes in Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh (60-80 % of blood sacrifices at Gadhimai come from India - Inform and advice international groups on campaigns to pressurize Nepalese
government
Note: the quotes are from Tirtha Shrestha, a Nepalese botanist
For more information contact
Mahesh Sharma or Lucia de Vries, Animal Welfare Network Nepal, [email protected]