GUWAHATI: Arguably the most popular singer from Assam Zubeen Garg has created a controversy by making a call to end the age-old ritual animal sacrifice in the famous Kamakhya Temple here and faced ire of the community of temple priests.
While performing in a cultural function at the premises Kamakhya Temple on Monday night Zubeen paused amid his performance and expressed his anguish over the news that Bollywood actor Govinda was in Kamakhya Temple to sacrifice a buffalo and went on the call for an end to this ‘cruel’ tradition of animal sacrifice in the ancient temple.
“Govinda (the actor) should have sacrificed himself , not a buffalo. Ma Kamakhya doesn’t want blood of animals. Stop sacrificing animals here, rather show compassion to animals. No god wants sacrifice of animals , so please stop this practice. I have been calling for an end to this cruelty to animals. I am making a film on a buffalo in Hindi as well as in English and once the film becomes well accepted globally , people will clap for it. I can’t allow that buffalo to be sacrificed,” Zubeen Garg said.
The comment of the singer has evoked sharp reactions from the community of priests in the centuries-old Kamakhya Temple which is visited by lakhs of devotees, well known and lesser known alike, every year. The priests have demanded unconditional apology from Zubeen for his ‘unwarranted’ comments failing which the singer will be barred from entering the premises of the temple and performing there.
A senior priest of Kamakhya Temple, Kabindra Sharma said, “We condemn the remarks made by singer Zubeen Garg on the tradition of animal sacrifice in Kamakhya Temple. He is a singer and a pride of Assam, he should confine himself to his own work and refrain from making unwarranted comments on age-old traditions and rituals that are followed in Kamakhya Temple, and a shakti peeth.”