PETA India urges Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to rename Mumbai's Mutton Street as 'Ahimsa Marg' ahead of Gandhi Jayanti

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. File Pic

Ahead of Gandhi Jayanti, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India sent a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde requesting that he rename Mumbai's Mutton Street to "Ahimsa Marg" in a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. 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 contradicts 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," says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. "PETA India encourages everyone to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's legacy daily by choosing healthy and delicious plant foods."

In the letter, PETA India points out that "The renaming might also discourage the presence of stolen goods in the area - it is rumoured that such items end up there and the street is known locally as Chor Bazaar - and attract vegan food hawkers and other vegan businesses, which would encourage tourists and locals alike to frequent the site."

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."

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.

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. A United Nations report concluded that a global shift towards vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.