Varanasi: Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand expressed concern about certain efforts to cause communal disharmony through animal sacrifice during Eid al-Adha or Bakrid that is to be celebrated on June 7 or 8.
According to him, some Muslims sacrifice cows, just to provoke Hindus. He warned that this tradition would have serious consequences.
Shankaracharya said that sacrificing a cow in the name of religious tradition is not acceptable, and he appealed to the police administration that cow slaughter should not be allowed anywhere. He further stated that if sacrifices are carried out publicly, it will hurt the spirit of communal harmony and lead to serious consequences, he said on Tuesday.
A meeting was organised at the Patalpuri Math in Varanasi during the day, attended by dozens of religious leaders and intellectuals. Jagadguru Balakadevaacharya spoke to ABP News about the ancient and sacred city of Varanasi and its importance.
According to the Seer, several rivers flow through the city, and if animal sacrifices are performed in the name of festivals and their blood flows into the rivers, it would directly harm religious sentiments and the environment. Therefore, animal slaughter should not be done publicly during any festival, we oppose this practice.
At the meeting, BHU History Professor Dr Rajeev Srivastava said that animal sacrifice is prohibited within an 8-kilometer radius of Mecca and Medina, considered the holiest sites in Islam. Similarly, cleanliness is given utmost importance in Vatican City. In the same way, Kashi is a religious city, and public animal slaughter should not take place here during any festival.
He added that such practices challenge both tradition and the environment. That was the reason behind Tuesday’s meeting, through which a clear appeal was made that no public slaughter of animals should occur in Varanasi. Meanwhile, Muslim religious leaders have also appealed to their community to celebrate ‘Bakrid’ within the legal framework.
