GUWAHATI: Popular Assamese singer Zubeen Garg has courted a controversy by publicly speaking up against animal sacrifice as a ritual.
The locals at the historic Kamakhya temple demanded an apology from him. They warned that if the singer failed to do so, he would be barred from entering the temple premises in the future.
Speaking at a musical function at Kamakhya on Monday night, Garg said: “I learnt (Bollywood actor) Govinda had offered a buffalo for sacrifice at Kamakhya yesterday. Why should one sacrifice an animal at a temple? One should sacrifice oneself instead,” he had asserted.
“I stopped eating the meat of duck since I started rearing one. When you fall in love with an animal, you stop eating its meat. Fishes are aplenty everywhere. We should eat fish,” he insisted.
The singer recently bought a buffalo, named Zulu, which would feature in his upcoming Assamese movie. “Once the film is released, I am sure a lot of people will stop eating meat,” he said.
His assertions evoked mixed reactions.
“We oppose his comments. He should refrain from commenting on temple rituals. He is an artiste and let him perform on stage. It is not fair for him to comment on temples and their rituals…Devotees come to Kamakhya to offer pujas. Some offer animal sacrifices, some do not. We have a system and rituals under which we function,” Kabindra Sarma, a doloi (temple priest), told The New Indian Express.
The “People for Animals”, however, defended the singer.
“Every year, thousands of goats, pigeons and buffaloes are sacrificed at Kamakhya without any religious justification. I myself have told the temple authorities to stop the ritual of animal sacrifice. Even after that, if I can visit the temple and offer pujas, why should Zubeen be barred?” asked PFA chairperson Sangita Goswami.