Maharashtra’s Kalyan district witnessed a massive protest on Independence Day, as Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress workers, joined by members of the butcher community, marched to the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) headquarters carrying live chickens in defiance of a civic order.
The protest was sparked by KDMC's directive to shut down all mutton and chicken shops on 15 August, which demonstrators say unfairly targeted their livelihoods and community.
Protesters waved placards, shouted slogans, and marched with live chickens as symbols of defiance. One protester, holding a chicken aloft, said the act represented their resistance to the arbitrary and “unjust” ban.
“This is injustice against us. The municipal corporation always targets our community, issues orders without reason, and shuts down our shops. We strongly condemn this decision,” said one agitated protester. He also questioned why KDMC continued with the closure while some other civic bodies had withdrawn similar orders after facing backlash.
In anticipation of unrest, a large police presence was deployed at the KDMC building. Officers blocked both main entry routes, and several political leaders were detained earlier in the day to prevent the protest from escalating.
The protest in Kalyan forms part of a wider backlash against similar meat shop closures imposed on Independence Day by municipal bodies in Nagpur, Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Malegaon. These orders have sparked a political row in Maharashtra, with opposition parties accusing ruling authorities of enforcing food-based moral policing.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded to the controversy by distancing the state government from the local bans. “The state government is not interested in regulating people’s food choices. We have many other issues to address. This nonsense should stop at once,” he said.
He clarified that the order was not issued at the state level but stemmed from a 1988 government resolution (GR), which allows municipal corporations to close slaughterhouses on 15 August. “Even I was not aware of such a GR for so long,” Fadnavis added, pointing out that similar closures had also occurred during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as chief minister.
The issue has further deepened the ongoing political friction in the state, with the opposition using the incident to highlight what they call “selective governance” and “community targeting” by municipal bodies.
Meanwhile, civic officials at KDMC have yet to comment on whether the policy will be revised or maintained in the face of growing dissent.
