A month-long Gadhimai festival takes place every five years in Bariyarpur, Mahagadhimai Municipality in Bara district Nepal which borders India. The place Gadhimai is named after the Hindu Goddess Gadhimai located in Bariyarpur. The upcoming Gadhimai festival will take place on 8^th and 9^th of December 2024. Thousands of Gadhimai followers from Nepal and India, mainly Uttarakhand, Bihar Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, attend the festival. The Bloodless Gadhimai 2024 aims  to promote peaceful alternative offerings like coconut, ashgourd instead of animal sacrifices.

The Bloodless Gadhimai Campaign 2024 has been conducting various activities and programs with to achieve the goal.  This Bloodless Gadhimai Campaign 2024 has been run under the leadership of Federation of Animal Welfare Nepal and  Sneha’s Care. Here’re some of the activities of the campaign that has been going on:

Street Drama against animal sacrifice in Bara
We have organized street dramas in various places of Bara, as a part of awareness program. This street drama contains a social message not to participate in sacrificing animals. Rather, one can make wish and opt for alternative peaceful offerings like coconuts and ashgourds instead of offering lives of the innocent animals.

Peace Rally Against Animal Sacrifice in Bara

We organized a peace rally in Bara, where more than a thousand people joined us, vocalizing slogans for animal welfare and promoting peaceful alternatives to animal sacrifices. As part of our ongoing campaigns to discourage such practices, we held this awareness rally to spread our message in Kalaiya on the 13th of September. Nearly 400 women had participated in the rally, which we had organized in collaboration with the Bara Women’s Development Forum. The rally started from the Janaki Temple, circled through Kalaiya Bazaar, and concluded back at the temple.

Ms. Sneha Shrestha, the president of the FAWN, emphasized that our rally aimed to spread the message of discouraging animal sacrifices not just at the Gadhimai Mela but throughout the country. The enthusiastic participation of local women was truly heartwarming, and we urged everyone to contribute to making the Gadhimai Mela violence-free.
The major highlight of the rally was to spread the key message i.e to offer fruits, sweets, and vermilion instead of sacrificing animals under the blind faith of fulfilling wishes.
Kalawati Paswan, the president of the Bara Women’s Development Forum and former minister, joined us in emphasizing the role of women in raising their voices against animal sacrifices at the household level. During her address after the rally, she pointed out that women, who are often more involved in making vows, must take the lead in this movement. She encouraged offering fruits to deities to seek blessings instead of resorting to animal sacrifices.

Peace Rally at the Kathmandu

A similar peace rally was also conducted in Kathmandu on the 15^th November, 2024. The prime objective was to raise awareness against animal sacrifice and promote compassion. The participants had gathered in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur by 7.45 am. The rally had a route from Jawalakhel-Kumaripati-Lagankhel-Mangalbazar-Banglamukhi-Shankhamul and the ending point was New Baneshwor. The rally was leaded by the president of the FAWN, Ms. Sneha Shrestha. The rally witnessed an overwhelming response from various stakeholders, including animal rights activists, concerned citizens, and religious leaders. The participants carried banners, placards, and vocalizing slogans such as “Say No to Animal Sacrifice,” “Choose Peace Over Bloodshed,” and “Respect Life, Stop Sacrifices.” The peaceful procession was marked by enthusiastic chants calling for compassionate alternatives to traditional practices.

 

Religious Speeches by the religious speakers

The campaign organizers in partnership with Bramha Kumari Rajyog, has conducted the first prawachan at Mahagadimai Municipality. The goal of the event was to raise awareness about animal welfare, promote violence free Gadhimai festival, and advocate for animal rights. Around 100 participants from the village attended the event. The members of Bramhakumari have played a significant role in ensuring that the message was effectively conveyed to the participants.

Discussion on Effective Implementation of the Supreme Court’s Mandamus on Gadhimai Festival

A discussion was held on September 11, 2024, at the Directorate of Judgment Execution Office in Kathmandu aimed to review and strategize the effective implementation of this Supreme Court order. The discussion was organized by the Directorate of Judgment Execution in collaboration with Sneha’s Care and the Federation of Animal Welfare Nepal (FAWN), brought together key stakeholders, including key representatives from government ministries, animal welfare organizations, and legal experts. The key note speakers were Mr. Saroj Raj Regmi, the Spokesperson for the Directorate of Judgment Execution , Advocate Mr. Padam Bahadur Shrestha, Advocate Ramkrishna Banjara, Mr. Gajendra Bahadur Singh, the Director General of the Directorate of Judgment Execution, Dr. Surya Prasad Paudel, the Joint Secretary of the Livestock and Fisheries Development Division under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MOALD) along with Ms. Sneha Shrestha, the President of the Federation of Animal Welfare Nepal.

The collective goal of this discussion was to ensure that the court’s directives are followed in order to reduce or eliminate animal sacrifice at the upcoming Gadhimai Festival, thereby fostering a cultural shift toward non-violence and compassion for animals. The promotion of compassion and non-violence, and by holding relevant stakeholders from the ministries, departments, concerned institutions accountable for their roles, the movement towards a bloodless Gadhimai Festival is gaining momentum. The continued dedication of all parties involved will be crucial in transforming this vision into a reality, where tradition can coexist with empathy and respect for all living beings.

Formation of the animal welfare defenders in 16 municipalities of Bara district

We have selected an animal welfare defender in 16 municipalities in Bara district. These individuals have  been provided with proper training. In this campaign their major role is to facilitate to conduct advocacy with the local government and other stakeholders. In addition, they are the responsible bodies to mobilize the animal welfare groups.

Formation of Animal Welfare Groups
One Animal Welfare Group of women and youth has been formed in each 16 municipalities in the Bara district. These groups are the local-level mechanisms of the organizing body to support the Bloodless Gadhimai Campaign 2024. Each group consists of ten local influential women and youth. Community interventions, including rallies and awareness-raising activities are some of the activities led by these groups under the supervision of AWDs in their respective municipalities.

Formation of Border Watch Groups
The border watch groups which will be deployed in the villages around the border of Nepal and India has already been formed. It consists of twenty groups with (15-20 local men each). This group is responsible to monitor the transportation of animals from India to Nepal from mid-September until the sacrifice takes place in December. They have completed the required training  them for the facilitation in building their relationship with the Border Security Force of India and Nepal.

School Education

FAWN has selected two government schools in all of the 16 municipalities in the Bara district. A criterion has been developed for the school selection. Schools in the sacrifice-prone villages has been prioritised . One teacher from 32 selected schools has been trained to lead as school focal person to teach animal welfare, anti-sacrifice, and alternate sacrifice for six months.