• TOPICS
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 1
From travelling on the front seat of a Mahindra jeep to the roof of a Sherpa jeep, the ill-fated billy goat was destined to find himself on the belly of so many people upon being slayed. But little did the poor soul know about people's insatiable craving for meat.
On the occasion of Kul puja, hundreds of goats are slain as there's a firm belief among the people that doing so would appease the kuldevta (clan deity).
Every now and then, I remember the instance wherein a billy goat belonging to my family was bleating helplessly just before being decapitated. The emotional attachment I had with the billy goat within a short span of time will forever be etched in my memory in the form of flashbulbs.
The way every single goat was mercilessly slain and subsequently hurled onto the ground painted the heart-wrenching tale of hundreds of goats, rendering them into the trap of unfettered mayhem.
The scenario wherein people were reveling in their nasty act in a social milieu was no less than a horrid nightmare.
I get entangled in agony whenever I try to recall every single detail of the horrific scenario.
It was indeed a display of despicable crime on the part of human beings. The very act of mass slaughtering of animals, to me, is akin to that of scores of people being slaughtered in a civil war. In both cases, the victims have to go through excruciating pain and suffer cruel death.
Having savoured the feast for several days with utmost relish upon sacrificing an innocent animal in quest of surrendering oneself to the clan deity, I found myself morosely contemplating for a couple of weeks anguishing about whether I had committed a heinous crime. As I devoured the goat's meat selectively, the only thing that kept revolving in my mind was that its reincarnated soul would definitely do the same to me at some point of its rebirth.
It was me who gouged out the eyes from the goat's decapitated head and gorged myself on several of its body parts, including the delicate ears, brain and heart, not to mention the thick skin parts. At times, I ask myself, "Am I even human?" More often than not, I get a reply from my inner soul that says, "No, you are an immoral monster in the guise of a human being."
I have no idea whether human beings are bound to go through purgatory in their afterlife after committing all the misdeeds, but I can rest assured that slaughtering creatures merely to fulfil religious obligations, more so perhaps, to satisfy one's sensual urges in no way can keep the sanctity of religious liberty intact.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
