The Shiv Sena activists in old Gurugram have shut down over 500 meat and chicken shops, including outlets of KFC for nine days on the account of Navratri. The police however denied receiving any complaint regarding the same.
The protesters also want all meat shops in the area closed every Tuesday, when they say Hindus are barred from eating meat, said a Hindustan Times report.
"A number of Hindus keep fast on Navratri and on Tuesday of every week. It does not feel good to see meat being sold and served on these days. Most of shopkeepers have supported the move and we consulted those who resisted," said Shiv Sena's media coordinator Ritu Raj.
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Inspired by the crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh, more than 200 Sena activists- in separate teams- forced the owners to pull shutters at various places including Palam Vihar, Rajendra Park, Feroze Gandhi Colony, Sector 9, Sector 12 and Sector 14.
The protesters also boasted of 'full support' of the local traders and the customers of KFC 'cooperated' with them. "We have forced employees to turn electricity off inside and pull shutters down for public," Gurugram Shiv Sena president Gautam Saini was quoted as saying to Mail Today.
Civic authorities' run by the BJP and Shiv Sena in different states order shutdown of meat shops and slaughterhouses during Jain and Hindu festivals every year, provoking angry reactions for encroaching on citizen’s freedom to eat the food of their choice.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had banned the sale of meat for four days last year during the Jain festival in September. Abattoirs and sale of meat in civic markets were also shut down.
