Bishnoi Community Protests Against Government's Nilgai Culling Decision

Haryana government’s recent decision permitting the culling of Nilgai (Blue-bull) has sparked outrage among the Bishnoi community who is protesting across multiple district including Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar against this decision.

Community members in Dabwali and Fatehabad submitted memorandum to their respective SDM offices and protests marked from Bishnoi Temple to Mini Secretariat in Hisar. 

Community leaders has suggested other alternatives to address the Nilgai situation like relocating nilgais to other states, implementation of sterilisation programmes and compensation schemes for affected farmers.

The community is adopting a proactive approach to finding humane solutions for stopping the culling of Nilgai as they have discussed the solutions with Chief Wildlife Officer and Forest Minister previously.

The Bishnoi community 's protest routes down to their principle of "Jeev Daya Palani" that is animal protection. This belief holds that all living creatures have an inherent right to life which makes the government’s decision of the killing Nilgai particularly contentious for the Bishnoi community.

The community leadership is pushing for immediate revocation of the decision of culling of Nilgai, revision of the Wildlife Protection Act and implementation of alternative wildlife management strategies to balance out the welfare of people as well as the wildlife.

Inderjeet Bishnoi, State president of Jeev Raksha Sabha has warned that the protest will continue until their demands are met by the authorities.