KARACHI: Authorities in Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir on Friday said there is no ban on the sacrifice of animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. Earlier, a AFP news item datelined Srinagar, however, said the Indian government has ordered authorities in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to ban the slaughter of all animals on occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.

The order by the Hindu nationalist government, released late Thursday, is likely to heighten tensions where anxiety has deepened since New Delhi revoked its special autonomous status in August 2019.

Citing animal welfare laws, the government's Animal Welfare Board of India ordered police and authorities to "take all preventive measures" to halt the "illegal killing of animals and to take stringent action against offenders." Cows are considered sacred by many Hindus and their slaughter is banned in the region and many Indian states. The new order extends the ban to all animals for the first time.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021