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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Protestors tear Dadar kabutarkhana plastic cover, feed pigeons despite HC order
STRAP: Hours later, the leaders backtracked and claimed the vandals were 'outsiders' Protestors tear Dadar kabutarkhana plastic cover, feed pigeons despite HC order MUMBAI: Despite the order by the chief minister and an upcoming Bombay high court hearing, a 1,000-strong mob of the Jain community descended on the Dadar Kabutarkhana on Wednesday morning. With women taking the lead, they began attacking the plastic covering thrown over the kabutarkhana with knives and blades even as the police tried in vain to stop them. Damage done, they proceeded to pour sacks of chana for the pigeons on the traffic island in direct contravention of the court order and BMC rules. Hours later, however, the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust and the Jain community backtracked and claimed they were not responsible for the vandalism. 'On Tuesday night, we sent out messages to say the protest had been postponed, as our meeting with the CM was favourable,' said trustee Sandeep Doshi, displaying the alleged message. 'It was outsiders who came and caused the havoc. Then the crowd's anger took over, all to make us look bad politically.' Vijayraj Parmar, chairman of the Shantinathji Maharaj Jain Derasar Trust opposite Dadar Kabutarkhana, parroted this, saying the 'protestors' were not from Dadar. 'But they saw hundreds of pigeons dying after the feeding stopped, and wanted to stop it immediately,' he said. However, many shopkeepers in the area and BMC officials clearly stated the protestors were from the Jain community, having shown their allegiance to the cause of pigeon feeding, including holding a protest march last Sunday. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the protestors coming from 9.30 am, waiting at the Jain temple for a bit before getting riled up and moving in for the attack. By the time the police could control the crowd, the damage was already done. 'We were taken by surprise,' said an official from G North ward. 'Initially, we were informed that the protest had been called off. But the crowd turned up and tore off the plastic covering. As this is a sensitive issue, we will wait to hear the Bombay high court's order on Thursday.' Puran Doshi, a former corporator, also parroted the account that the protestors were not locals and went on to call the HC order 'misguided'. 'Pigeons are one among the many causes of pulmonary diseases, and yet the head of the pulmonary department at KEM hospital has only zeroed in on pigeons, and not many other things that are harmful,' he said. 'The Maharashtra government and BMC are acting in the interests of the towers around the kabutarkhana. I will demand an inquiry into this.' Sandeep Doshi also skirted around the established medical science fact that pigeons feathers and droppings are proven to cause health issues. 'Smoking and alcohol too are injurious to health, yet the government just prints warnings on them and allows their sale,' he said. 'Similarly, they should put warning boards at the kabutarkhana that people with respiratory issues should keep their distance.' Citizens of Mumbai were outraged at the show of force at the kabutarkhana in clear contravention of the law. 'They openly tore down the BMC's makeshift shed and fed pigeons—in full view of the media and police and in direct violation of Bombay high court orders. Where are the FIRs?' demanded Chetan Kamble, a Dadar resident and founder of NGO Chakachak Dadar who was present at the spot. 'When the law is defied so brazenly, and no action is taken, it sends a dangerous message: that some groups are above the law. The police were mute spectators throughout. Public health, court orders and civic governance cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasement.' The Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA) termed the events of Wednesday 'hooliganism' and asked for the perpetrators to be booked for obstructing civil servants from performing their duty and damaging public property. Photos of the Jain temple with netted balconies irked those on social media, questioning why the temple was allowing pigeons to flourish but leaving them out of their premises. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday reacted to the attack only by saying that the government was trying to find a middle ground. 'We will place a few measures before the court so that this tradition will not be disrupted and at the same time there won't be any health issues,' Fadnavis told reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. NCP (SP) legislator Rohit Pawar, who was at Dadar Kaburtarkhana and supported the aggressive protest of the Jain community, emphasised that alternatives needed to be found. 'The pigeons could die, as feeding was completely stopped suddenly,' he said. 'This injustice to birds has no place in the Jain and Hindu communities. 'The BMC should come out with a solution. Rohit astutely added that no one wanted to insult the court. 'They were all trying to save the lives of pigeons,' he said.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Tension after crowd forcefully opens Dadar Kabutarkhana to feed pigeons
Over a hundred members of the Jain community took to the streets Wednesday morning, forcefully opened the Dadar Kabutarkhana and offered grains to pigeons at a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s closure of such feeding spots has ruffled feathers across quarters in the city. Anticipating the agitation and protest, BMC Tuesday sought police assistance in taking action against those who would be found feeding pigeons at public spaces. The protest comes a day after Maharashtra's Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed BMC to permit the feeding of pigeons in a controlled manner. Over the weekend, BMC shut the 92-year-old feeding spot in Dadar and lodged FIRs, much to the chagrin of animal rights activists and members of the Jain community for whom feeding pigeons holds religious significance. Tensions flared in Dadar where hundreds of Jain community members flocked to the Kabutarkhana. Some of them climbed atop the bamboo structure, and pulled down the tarpaulin sheets over the site, which the BMC had installed over the weekend. Following the partial removal of the cover, the crowd, led by women, climbed inside the feeding ground and offered grains to the pigeons even as the police attempted to control the protesters. Tucked in the bustling neighbourhood near Dadar railway station, Dadar Kabutarkhana — established in 1933 — is maintained by the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust. According to members of the trust, over 980 pigeons had died in the vicinity over the past 3 days. 'It was to offer prayers, that a peace gathering had initially been planned on Wednesday. However, after our meeting with the Chief Minister where he spoke in favour of us, we had called off the gathering. Even as we had conveyed a message of the cancellation throughout the night, some members perhaps did not receive the message and gathered at the site on Wednesday morning,' said Sandeep Doshi from the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust. He maintained that the extreme reactions were triggered by members outside of the Jain community, who had also gathered on Wednesday. 'Some other members from other communities also gathered and the extreme action was taken by them. While some things happened in the heat of the moment, we did not break anything, did not fight with the police nor the administration,' added Doshi. Even as the Mumbai Police had on Wednesday morning said that it was in the process of filing an FIR, officials said that no FIR was filed until Wednesday. 'We can file an FIR only on the basis of complaints filed by BMC, as the High Court had directed the BMC to take action on the matter,' an official from Mumbai Police told The Indian Express. Meanwhile, the BMC had not filed any complaints until Wednesday evening. Dadar Kabutarkhana is among the 44 feeding spots the civic body has initiated action against for pigeon feeding. Between July 13 and August 3, at least 141 people have been fined for feeding pigeons with the civic body collecting over Rs. 68,700 in penalties. Mumbai is home to at least 51 such Kabutarkhanas with the Maharashtra Government on July 3 calling for the closure of these feeding sites owing to concerns of public health hazards. However, BMC's stance on the closure of Kabutar Khanas gained further momentum after the Bombay High Court order issued on July 30, directing the civic body to lodge FIRs against those who 'illegally' and in a 'defiant' manner feed pigeons at Dadar West, among other feeding areas in Mumbai, despite the policy prohibiting the feeding. Amid the civic body shutting pigeon feeding across the city, members of the Jain community Monday staged a 'Shantidoot Yatra' from Colaba to the Gateway of India, appealing for the reversal of the decision. Meanwhile, as the protest subdued by Wednesday afternoon, the area continued to wear a tense look with the Mumbai police deploying its personnel while also later pressing in barricades. With the tarpaulin sheets and plastic cover partially removed, several pigeons returned into the central feeding spot while many continued to flutter around the grade-II heritage structure. As members of the Dadar Kabutarkhana trust maintained that the forceful opening was triggered by members outside of the community, the incident triggered reactions across the political spectrum. In the aftermath of the incident, Maharashtra cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha backed the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust. He said, 'The Kabutarkhana trust had no role to play in this incident with the members maintaining that the incident was triggered by members of another community. Some people came here and the Jain community and monks had no role to play in the matter.' Earlier on August 4, Lodha had written to the civic chief, Bhushan Gagrani, calling for alternate feeding spots in the city. Meanwhile, Manisha Kayande, Shiv Sena UBT leader who had raised the issue of illegal Kabutarkhanas in council in July, said, 'Members of the Jain community tore the sheets which had been laid over the feeding site. This is a complete contempt of the High Court. This is no religious subject but in fact, a subject of medical science and concerns birds and animals. However, now, voices of people who have suffered ailments due to the pigeons have been completely stifled. How is this appropriate and who will help them?' 'There has been news today that some animal lovers and particularly members of the Jain community have done destruction at the Dadar Kabutarkhana. This is not true. As per the decision taken on Tuesday, people had only come there to feed birds by opening the tarpaulin,' Sandeep Bhandari, president of BJP's Jain cell said on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday, CM Fadnavis had directed BMC to facilitate feeding of pigeons in public spaces in a controlled manner to ensure that the birds do not starve. Even as the civic body maintained that the sites would remain closed until the Bombay High Court hearing on August 7, officials said BMC was exploring the options of feeding for staggered durations, following Fadnavis's directives.
