23, Sep 2015

Sep 23 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)
Pervez IqbalSiddiqui
Musahra (Sant Kabir Nagar)
Eid-ul-Zuha is a festival of qurbani (sacrifice)–but not for Muslims of Musahara, a nondescript village in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Sant Kabir Nagar. In the season of bans, the district administration here has issued an order forbidding sacrifice of animals for all three days of the festival.
Authorities insist they were enforcing an eight-yearold order and allowing qurbani may lead to communal tension.
From Wednesday , all goats will be seized and returned three days after Eid-ul-Zuha on September 25, said inspector Ram Baran Yadav of Dharam Singhva police station.
Muslims say they were allowed to perform qurbani till 2007 when communal riots broke after some Hindus objected to sacrifice of animals. “When there is a marriage in our family , all goats are sacrificed right here in the village. In fact, there is no restriction on sacrifice of animal on the fourth day of Eid,“ said Ilake (75), a Musahra resident.