Choose the milky way - Editorial

With Buddhist monks and animal rights groups vowing to intensify their campaign for a ban on cattle slaughter before the celebration of Buddhist revivalist Anagarika Dharmapala’s 150th birth anniversary in September, Denmark has set a poser to Sri Lanka and the world on the precept of respecting animal rights and compassion to all beings.

Denmark’s Government has brought in a ban on the slaughter of animals according to religious rites, after years of campaigning by animal welfare activists.
The change to the law has been called “anti-Semitism” by Jewish leaders and “a clear interference in religious freedom” by the non-profit group Danish Halal. Opponents of the ban also ask whether it is correct to say that “animal rights come before religious practices.” They say this decision instead appears to target religious minorities by selectively applying a concern for animal rights.

Supporters of the ban ask why we should place the sensibilities of religious people above the rights of an animal to as painless a death as possible. The Denmark’s minister for agriculture and food has said “animal rights need to come before religious practices or traditions.”

He says these new regulations require that animals are stunned before death, in line with rules in many other European countries and not be concious as required in certain religious practices. Denmark is a progressive nation - with a population of around 6,500 Jewish people, and 270,000 Muslims out of a total 5.6 million. Furthermore, traditional halal and kosher meat can still be freely imported if so desired.

While Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka this week said they believed President Mahinda Rajapaksa would act on their petition signed by tens of thousands of people to ban cattle slaughter as a first step towards vegetarianism, top nutritionist Dr. Damayanthi Perera speaking purely on a scientific basis said worldwide research had shown beef or any meat was not necessary to provide adequate nutrition for people.  She said Sri Lanka had more than hundred varieties of vegetables and fruits which could provide all the nutrition that children and other people needed.

Dr. Perera also said there was scientific evidence to show that consumption of meat was in most cases not helpful but harmful to human health. Diseases like high cholesterol, heart ailments and cancer were linked to the excessive consumption of fatty meat. Dr. Perera one of Sri Lanka’s most highly qualified nutritionists  said the unchecked promotion of what she described as “processed rubbish” such as sausages specially among children was also causing serious health problems and the Government needed to act fast to stop this.

Buddhist group leaders who appeared on television this week said the ban on cattle slaughter should be followed by effective measures to revive Sri Lanka’s fresh milk industry and make the country self-sufficient in fresh milk just as it was before the globalised capitalist market economic system was swallowed wholesale by Sri Lanka after 1977. The monks and nutritionist Dr. Perera also pointed out that fresh milk was much more nutritious than any imported powdered milk. The Government Medical Officers’ Association also has said that Sri Lanka could save as much as Rs. 40,000 million a year if we revive the fresh milk industry and curb the import of powdered milk. We hope the Rajapaksa Government will choose the milky way to honour great patriots like Anagarika Dharmapala.