Mural of Mahatma Gandhi at one of the streets of Chor Bazaar in Mumbai
Credit: X/@bhendiiiii
Mumbai: On the eve of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-India (PETA) has demanded that Mumbai’s Mutton Street be renamed as Ahimsa Marg as a tribute to the Father of the Nation.
Mutton Street is also known as the Chor Bazaar located in South Mumbai.
PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the issue.
Gandhi Jayanti, observed on 2 October, is also globally recognised as the International Day of Non-Violence.
In the letter, PETA India notes that the street name has a colonial past and is associated with the meat trade, which contradict Gandhi ji’s values of non-violence and vegetarian eating.
“Renaming Mutton Street to ‘Ahimsa Marg’ would be a wonderful tribute to Gandhi ji’s memory that would remind the public to respect all animals in the heart of Mumbai,” said Dr Ahuja.
“PETA India encourages everyone to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy daily by choosing healthy and delicious plant foods,” added Dr Ahuja.
In the letter, PETA India points out that the renaming might also discourage the presence of stolen goods in the area - as it is rumoured.
The letter quotes Gandhi ji as saying - “To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. … I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”
A press statement issued by PETA said that killing animals for meat causes violence on a massive scale. “Chickens are often shackled upside down before their throats are slit, and goats are forcefully pinned down while their throats are cut with knives. Cows and buffaloes are crammed into vehicles in such large numbers their bones often break before they’re dragged off to a slaughterhouse, and pigs are stabbed in the heart as they scream. On the decks of fishing boats, fish suffocate or are cut open while they’re still alive,” the statement reads.
In addition, eating meat and other animal-derived foods has been linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and obesity, and rearing and killing animals for food has been linked to a multitude of zoonotic diseases like bird flu, swine flu, and Covid-19. “And a United Nations report concluded that a global shift towards vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe,” it said.