By Imran Khan, IANS
Patna : He has been sheltering pigs out of official compulsion. But a Muslim veterinarian in Bihar now finds himself ostracised by friends and family alike as the animal is considered ‘napak’ (impure) in Islam.
So much so that Alam Azad, a senior veterinary officer in Kishanganj district, 300 km from here, now fears that fellow Muslims may not even allow him to go on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca this year.
“I have been ostracised for giving shelter to pigs. I tried to convince them but failed. No one is ready to understand my predicament,” said Azad, who has kept 107 pigs in a bamboo enclosure outside his official residence for over 45 days to produce them in court as “evidence”.
Azad, who is in his 50s, told IANS he was helpless and upset that neither his Muslims friends nor his own family was ready to understand his plight.
“How can I free the pigs when they are evidence against arrested smugglers? It is my official duty to look after them,” he said.
Azad has been looking after the pigs at his own cost since the time they were confiscated while being smuggled to Nepal Sep 16. He has been spending Rs.500 daily on animal feed and on employees who look after them.
Till date, Azad has spent over Rs.32,000 from his own pocket on the animals. “I have not been paid a single rupee by the district administration,” he said.
“I have no option but to keep them in safe custody and produce them in court,” said Azad.
Official sources said an animal husbandry officer had raided Belwa village in Kishanganj town near the Nepal border and confiscated the pigs that were being taken for sale. The officer said the pigs were being tortured. The animals were confiscated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Police accompanying the official also arrested two alleged smugglers.
Sources in the Kishanganj district administration said the police had refused to keep the pigs on the grounds that there was no shelter for them. Local cowshed owners also refused to keep them, fearing they would infect the cows and dirty the place.
Azad is now worried over whether he will be able to catch a flight to Jeddah Nov 11 and go on a Haj pilgrimage.
“Some members of my community have said they will not allow me to go on Haj as I have given shelter to pigs,” he said.
He is now banking on district officials who have promised to help him by arranging another shelter for the pigs.