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Activists seek blanket ban on animal sacrifices
Following the recent Court of Appeal ruling overturning a 2016 Jaffna High Court decision that prohibited animal sacrifices in Hindu kovils in the Northern Province, animal rights activists are to send a fresh proposal to the Hindu Affairs Ministry seeking a blanket ban.
In their talks with Hindu Affairs Minister Mano Ganeshan on Thursday, the activists urged him to implement a cabinet decision to ban ritualistic animal sacrifices in Hindu Kovils.
Animal rights activist and lawyer Lalini Perera said the minister asked them to hand over a fresh proposal to him, so that the government could come up with a blanket ban on ritualistic animal sacrifices.
She said the minister was of the view that the law should not target only one religious community. He had promised to take up the matter with ministers in charge of religions to bring about a total ban on ritualistic animal sacrifices in religious places and homes.
Last year, the then Hindu Affairs Minister D.M. Swaminathan got cabinet approval for a new law prohibiting animal sacrifice in Hindu temples.
However, before the bill could be presented in parliament, he lost his portfolio to Minister Ganeshan in a cabinet reshuffle following the October 26 constitutional crisis.
The Court of Appeal last week ruled that the Jaffna High Court had exceeded its powers by prohibiting the issuing of permits to slaughter animals in kovils in Jaffna.
Appeal Court Judge K.K. Wickremasinghe observed that Jaffna High Court judge M. llencheliyan’s ruling was one sided.
The Appeal Court held that any ritualistic animal sacrifice should be permitted if a person involved in the rituals had a licence under the Butchers Ordinance and adhered to the provisions of the cruelty to Animals Act.
The Ordinance insists on a certificate from the Public Health Inspectors and a veterinarian — to determine the health of the animal — and the slaughter be done in a humane manner.
In October 2017, Jaffna High Court Judge Ilancheliyan, gave the ruling in a case filed by the All Ceylon Hindu Maha Sabha against the killings of animals at the Kavunawatte Narasimmar Kovil festival as an offering to the deities. The judge conceded that the rituals did not comply with the Butchers Ordinance.
Around 400 goats and fowls are killed every year to mark the annual festival in May and the meat is distributed among devotees.
In 2013, the Court of Appeal imposed a similar ban on animal sacrifices at the Munneswaram Bhadrakali Amman Kovil in Chilaw.
The police in the area were ordered to ensure that a licence had been obtained from the local authority and that the slaughtering was done in a humane manner.
But the activist said that the rituals were continuing in secret and the police were oblivious to such happenings. “We need a blanket law to stop cruelty to animals,” Ms. Perera said.