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By:

Minal Sancheti

2 May 2026 at 12:26:53 pm

Funeral for animals

Mumbai: On the occasion of National Animal Rights Day, a funeral was held for all the voiceless creatures that humans have killed for selfish reasons. The act was a campaign and was a brainchild of Animal Climate and Health in collaboration with Our Planet Theirs Too. The purpose was to spread awareness about animal cruelty. The campaign took place at Carter Road Amphitheatre and so a crowd of both young and old supported the cause. Speaking about animal cruelty, recently the internet was...

Funeral for animals

Mumbai: On the occasion of National Animal Rights Day, a funeral was held for all the voiceless creatures that humans have killed for selfish reasons. The act was a campaign and was a brainchild of Animal Climate and Health in collaboration with Our Planet Theirs Too. The purpose was to spread awareness about animal cruelty. The campaign took place at Carter Road Amphitheatre and so a crowd of both young and old supported the cause. Speaking about animal cruelty, recently the internet was flooded with a viral video of a group of men at Mira Road taking a piglet to a locality where goats were brought for religious sacrifice. Aparjita Ashish, the founder and director of Animal Climate and Health said, “It is an act of cruelty to kill animals for religious sacrifice but to protest against this they were harassing a baby pig. The poor pig was screaming for his life. So how’s that right? If you want to protest, protest peacefully.” Ashish also comments on the Apex Judiciary’s decision of euthanising terminally ill dogs, “If the dog has a serious illness like rabies and is in a lot of pain, with a doctor’s permission and in a peaceful manner, they should be euthanised. The apex court also spoke about the ABC or animal birth control which if done with correct procedures, can help bring down issues related to the stray dogs. Many times the process is wrong so the animals become subject to cruelty.” She even added that the strays should not be displaced as that will leave them confused. This is also an act of ill treatment. The occasion saw a large number of gatherers. According to the campaigners, being vegan is not just for protecting animals but also for the climate. Ashish explained, “If you see the name of our NGO, it is Animal Climate and Health. So we also talk about the impact of consuming animal products on the environment.” She gives an example of how methane gas is produced because of the dairy animals and how the food and resources to breed animals are so much that it affects the environment. The supporters who participated in the campaign said they also noticed many health benefits of going vegan. Anil Nagpal, a senior citizen and volunteer with the organisation said, “For many years I was going through ill health. I tried every treatment but nothing really helped much. But then someone convinced me to go vegan and since that time my health has improved drastically. After this many people in my circles who used to eat animal products have given up.” When asked what his protein sources are, he said, “I eat lentils and legumes. Vegetables also contain protein.” Ashish claimed that humans have an ego that makes them think they are above animals.

Mayhem In Mumbai

Mayhem

In Maharashtra’s tangled electoral theater, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has again found itself caught in an uneasy tug-of-war with its nominal allies in the ruling Mahayuti coalition. In a high-profile debut, Raj’s son, Amit Thackeray, who is set to contest the Mahim Assembly seat, now finds himself facing a daunting challenge in a constituency marked by political crosscurrents and veiled grudges. The ruling MLA Sada Sarvankar of CM Eknath Shinde’s ruling Shiv Sena, has refused to back off despite previous intimations by the BJP that it would convince Sarvankar to withdraw.


Earlier, following Sarvankar’s intransigence, Raj Thackeray openly castigated Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. His ire, stemmed from Shinde’s refusal to rein in Sarvankar, who flatly refused to step aside in favour of Amit.


Yet, despite venting his spleen on Shinde, Raj spared the BJP from any direct rebuke, hinting that his bonhomie with the saffron party remained intact.


However, the BJP appears to be doing a delicate balancing act over backing Amit Thackeray in Mahim.


While endorsing MNS candidates for only one seat—the Shivdi Assembly seat, where Raj Thackeray’s lieutenant Bala Nandgaonkar is contesting—it has maintained an ambiguous stance on supporting Amit in Mahim.


BJP’s Mumbai President Ashish Shelar clarified that their endorsement is limited strictly to Shivdi, effectively withdrawing the once-discussed support for Amit. Despite Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s efforts to broker a truce, BJP’s MLC Pravin Darekar highlighted that any backing for Amit in Mahim hinges on the Eknath Shiv Sena’s co-operation - a condition that underscores the BJP’s unwillingness to risk its alliances over Mahim.


This latest development has left Raj Thackeray navigating an uncertain political landscape with less than a fortnight to go for the polls. While the MNS leader campaigned fervently for Eknath Shinde’s son, Shrikant Shinde, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Shinde’s refusal to reciprocate the same for Raj’s son in connection with the Mahim Assembly seat is likely to have stoked Raj’s frustrations.


For Amit, the upcoming contest marks a critical political debut as he faces not only Sarvankar but also the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Mahesh Sawant, creating a high-stakes triangular contest in central Mumbai. The MNS’ twin debacles in the 2014 parliamentary and Assembly elections left the party in utter disarray, with the slide continuing through the 2017 civic election as well as the 2019 State and national elections.


Following its rout in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election, an atrophied MNS had changed its ideological direction from its nativist stance by veering towards Hindutva politics, signalled by Mr. Raj Thackeray’s 2020 adoption of a saffron flag incorporating Chhatrapati Shivaji’s royal seal or ‘Rajmudra’.


The BJP’s reluctance to commit unequivocally to the MNS points to a larger strategy. By keeping its support conditional and focused on Nandgaonkar in Shivdi, the BJP retains leverage without alienating the Shinde faction—a tactical move to safeguard its alliance in Maharashtra’s fragmented political climate. For the BJP, Raj Thackeray’s Marathi vote bank remains valuable, but not indispensable.


The BJP thus benefits from Raj’s ideological alignment (the latter had offered unconditional support to the Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha), given his pivot towards Hindutva in the recent past. For the MNS and its leader, though, the Mahayuti’s ambivalence towards Raj Thackeray leaves the latter in a state of permanent political limbo.

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