LALNPUMSAINT, WALES, July 26, 2007: Police in Britain Thursday removed a bullock for slaughter from a Hindu community center after an emotional day of vigorous, but peaceful, protest by monks, pilgrims and nuns. After a tense stand-off of many hours, veterinary officials, supported by up to 25 police officers, loaded the diseased bull, called Shambo, on to a trailer to be taken to a nearby abattoir.
To the chant of Hindu prayers, and with pilgrims standing by in silent and passive protest, the trailer left the grounds of the Skanda Vale multi-faith center at Lalnpumsaint, in west Wales, Thursday evening. Earlier, police had removed up to 150 protesters to clear the route for Shambo. In many cases, officers, removing their helmets, tried to persuade protesters to leave, while some of the pilgrims were carried from the site. “This is a clash between human law against God’s law,” said a BBC commentator.
From early Thursday, monks and nuns chanting Hindu prayers, supported by pilgrims from across Britain and abroad, gathered at the temple where the bull, regarded as sacred in Hindu religion, was being held. The fate of Shambo, a six-year-old Friesian, appeared sealed after the regional government of Wales, in western Britain, decided that he must be put down after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis in May. But when government veterinary officials and three police officers arrived at the gate of the Skanda Vale community early Thursday, they were politely turned away and asked to present a warrant for the removal of Shambo.
While monks and nuns offered “passive resistance” with a vigil of prayers, and protesters formed a “human chain,” Shambo remained firmly locked inside the temple where he has been kept for the past three months. The protracted battle over Shambo, which culminated in an Appeal Court ruling to kill the animal earlier this week, has enraged the Hindu community and pitted local farmers against residents of the Skanda Vale centre.
Offers from a charity in India to take Shambo away and care for him had been rejected by the local authorities, a spokesman for the community, Brother Michael, said Thursday. “They will have to physically desecrate a temple to get him,” he added. “If the Welsh Assembly Government want to take him out of there, they will have to interrupt an act of worship.” The monks were originally told that the bull would be collected at 0700 GMT Thursday, and began their protest early outside a temple in which Shambo is housed.
“We are monitoring the situation at Skanda Vale very carefully and are very concerned that the bullock may be getting distressed by the noise and activity around him,” said a spokesman for the regional government. “Our concern has always been to minimize distress to the animal throughout this sensitive operation. We appeal to the community and the media to facilitate this by allowing our staff to get on with their work,” he added. Supporters from as far afield as New Zealand and Switzerland were taking part in a puja ceremony celebrating the sanctity of life at the temple enclosure where the bullock, decorated with a colorful paper garland, is being kept.
Protester Dave Husseina, from Oxford, said: “I would probably put myself in the way because I know I wouldn’t be at risk from this in any possible way, so yeah I’m prepared to put myself in front of the line to protect the bull.” “It’s not a normal farm situation. He isn’t going to be a risk to other breeds or animals,” said one worshipper. But the monks have faced opposition from many quarters, including the farming sector, where Shambo is seen as a disease risk to livestock.
Brian Walters, vice president of the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW), said: “We have to follow the rules like everybody else, and I won’t say we don’t have sympathy.” More than 5,000 cows are slaughtered every year in the region because they are suspected of carrying the disease, the authorities said. The National Secular Society Thursday condemned the actions of the protesters, saying that the demonstrators were “putting religious dogma before the welfare of the community.” “This has been a difficult case for all involved, but our aim continues to be the protection of human and animal health,” a government spokesman said.