Meat ban row: Seven detained in Kalyan ahead of KDMC protest; police cite precaution as tensions rise

KALYAN: Seven members of the Hindu Khatik Samaj and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers were detained from their homes by police on Thursday ahead of their planned protest outside the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) over the civic body’s order banning animal slaughter and the sale of chicken and mutton on Independence Day.Police said the detentions were a precautionary measure in anticipation of demonstrations, with heavy security deployed around the KDMC headquarters.The action came a day after the Hindu Khatik Samaj reaffirmed its plan to go ahead with an agitation on 15 August, following KDMC’s refusal to withdraw its order mandating the closure of slaughterhouses and outlets selling chicken and mutton on the day.A delegation from the community met KDMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Yogesh Godse on Thursday, who said the ban was in line with a 1987 state government directive.

He also pointed out that Janmashtami falls on the same date this year.The decision has drawn sharp political reactions. MNS chief Raj Thackeray criticised KDMC and other civic bodies enforcing similar bans, stating, “No government or municipal corporation has the right to decide what someone should eat or not eat. On one hand, we celebrate Independence Day, yet on the other hand, there is no freedom even to eat what we want.

This means that on Independence Day, you are actually imposing certain kinds of restrictions.

”Earlier, Congress’s Kalyan District President Sachin Pote had warned that live chickens could be released inside KDMC premises as part of their protest. NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad also warned that if the ban was not withdrawn, he would host a “mutton party” in Kalyan-Dombivli.The KDMC order, which enforces such closures on six specific days each year, is based on a 1987 state government notification implemented locally in December 1988. With Independence Day celebrations and multiple protests likely to coincide, police expect heightened political and public tensions outside the KDMC headquarters.