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The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), on Sunday, June 8, shut the gates of the iconic Sarasbaug Garden with a notice restricting the consumption of food within the premises. Notably, Bakrid was celebrated on the same day.

The decision came after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni demanded “to save the sanctity and purity” of a Peshwa-era Ganesh temple located in the park. She alleged that Muslims families would celebrate Bakrid by eating meat on the park’s premises.

“The temple is a sacred site of pilgrimage for lakhs of Hindus and Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated annually. It has been observed that people of the Muslim community turn up in large numbers in Sarasbaug Garden and consume meat by violating garden rules. This hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community,” her letter read.

The Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal strongly criticised the PMC’s move, calling the closure “a denial of civil rights and an affront to the Muslim community.”

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President of the Mandal Dr Shamsuddin Tamboli said, “It is surprising that they do not realize that by spreading it, by denying them entry into the garden, this act is reviving the inhuman practice of untouchability. In fact, there are laws against those who break the rules. It is possible to create a mechanism and system for its proper implementation. If eating meat violates the sanctity of the temple, then eating meat should be banned there, not for people of any community.”

National Convenor of the Maharashtra Muslim Conference Zubair Memon noted the same, dubbing it “modern untouchability” and calling on “progressive Hindu society” to “take to the streets to protest against it.”

Last month, she allegedly threatened and intimidated staff at the Shaikh Salahuddin Dargah to stop the azaan (the Islamic call to prayer) during Hanuman Jayanti.

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