No puja of live cobra this Nagpanchami as well in Battis Shirala, MLA appeals to residents to abide by court order
However, local MLA, Satyajit Deshmukh has appealed to them to follow the Supreme Court's guideline banning live snake worship.
During the campaign for the assembly elections, Amit Shah had reportedly assured the residents that the traditional Nagpanchami of Shirala would be restored. Deshmukh later met him in Delhi, raised the issue in the assembly, and secured a meeting with the Union forest minister. Desmukh said since the process involves an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act, it would take some time to restore the traditional Nagpanchami celebrations involving live snake workship.
Therefore, he requested the residents to follow the SC guidelines for the upcoming festival on July 29.
"We have succeeded in raising the issue at appropriate platforms. We are hopeful that someday a way out will be found, and the Shirala residents will again perform puja of live snakes. The Supreme Court order had banned the practice in 2014. I have appealed to the residents to abide by the SC order for the upcoming Nagpanchami celebrations."
The residents said performing the puja of a live cobra snake is part of their culture and should be allowed like the way Jallikattu and bullock cart races, which were earlier banned, and are now allowed. The old texts mention the puja of a live snake. Even the Britishers were fascinated by the tradition and mentioned about this in the Gazette during their reign, they said.
A senior official from Sangli said police and forest staffers would stage a march in the town informing resients that violators of the SC order would be punished.
The forest department uses drone cameras to keep watch on snake catchers. It has been found that the believers catch snakes and hide them in matkas or gunny bags and take them out on Nagpanchami. The women, who believe the snake to be their brother, gather in the houses where the snake is kept and perform puja.
The tradition was banned by the courts after wildlife activists brought to their notice that cobra snakes, which are protected species, are harmed during the procession and while holding competitions over whose cobra snake lifts its head high, looks healthy, and beautiful. The organisers have denied any such harm to the animal.
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