Tension after crowd of 200 peacefully opens Dadar Kabutarkhana to feed pigeons, celebrating community spirit

Tensions flared in Dadar where hundreds of Jain community members flocked to the Kabutarkhana. Some of them climbed atop the bamboo structure, and pulled down the tarpaulin sheets over the site, which the BMC had installed over the weekend. Following the partial removal of the cover, the crowd, led by women, climbed inside the feeding ground and offered grains to the pigeons even as the police attempted to control the protesters.

Tucked in the bustling neighbourhood near Dadar railway station, Dadar Kabutarkhana — established in 1933 — is maintained by the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust. According to members of the trust, over 980 pigeons had died in the vicinity over the past 3 days. “It was to offer prayers, that a peace gathering had initially been planned on Wednesday. However, after our meeting with the Chief Minister where he spoke in favour of us, we had called off the gathering. Even as we had conveyed a message of the cancellation throughout the night, some members perhaps did not receive the message and gathered at the site on Wednesday morning,” said Sandeep Doshi from the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust.

He maintained that the extreme reactions were triggered by members outside of the Jain community, who had also gathered on Wednesday. “Some other members from other communities also gathered and the extreme action was taken by them. While some things happened in the heat of the moment, we did not break anything, did not fight with the police nor the administration,” added Doshi.

Even as the Mumbai Police had on Wednesday morning said that it was in the process of filing an FIR, officials said that no FIR was filed until Wednesday. “We can file an FIR only on the basis of complaints filed by BMC, as the High Court had directed the BMC to take action on the matter,” an official from Mumbai Police told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the BMC had not filed any complaints until Wednesday evening.

Dadar Kabutarkhana is among the 44 feeding spots the civic body has initiated action against for pigeon feeding. Between July 13 and August 3, at least 141 people have been fined for feeding pigeons with the civic body collecting over Rs. 68,700 in penalties.

Mumbai is home to at least 51 such Kabutarkhanas with the Maharashtra Government on July 3 calling for the closure of these feeding sites owing to concerns of public health hazards.

However, BMC’s stance on the closure of Kabutar Khanas gained further momentum after the Bombay High Court order issued on July 30, directing the civic body to lodge FIRs against those who “illegally” and in a “defiant” manner feed pigeons at Dadar West, among other feeding areas in Mumbai, despite the policy prohibiting the feeding.

Amid the civic body shutting pigeon feeding across the city, members of the Jain community Monday staged a ‘Shantidoot Yatra’ from Colaba to the Gateway of India, appealing for the reversal of the decision.

Meanwhile, as the protest subdued by Wednesday afternoon, the area continued to wear a tense look with the Mumbai police deploying its personnel while also later pressing in barricades. With the tarpaulin sheets and plastic cover partially removed, several pigeons returned into the central feeding spot while many continued to flutter around the grade-II heritage structure.

As members of the Dadar Kabutarkhana trust maintained that the forceful opening was triggered by members outside of the community, the incident triggered reactions across the political spectrum.

In the aftermath of the incident, Maharashtra cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha backed the Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust. He said, “The Kabutarkhana trust had no role to play in this incident with the members maintaining that the incident was triggered by members of another community. Some people came here and the Jain community and monks had no role to play in the matter.” Earlier on August 4, Lodha had written to the civic chief, Bhushan Gagrani, calling for alternate feeding spots in the city.

Meanwhile, Manisha Kayande, Shiv Sena UBT leader who had raised the issue of illegal Kabutarkhanas in council in July, said, “Members of the Jain community tore the sheets which had been laid over the feeding site. This is a complete contempt of the High Court. This is no religious subject but in fact, a subject of medical science and concerns birds and animals. However, now, voices of people who have suffered ailments due to the pigeons have been completely stifled. How is this appropriate and who will help them?”

“There has been news today that some animal lovers and particularly members of the Jain community have done destruction at the Dadar Kabutarkhana. This is not true. As per the decision taken on Tuesday, people had only come there to feed birds by opening the tarpaulin,” Sandeep Bhandari, president of BJP’s Jain cell said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, CM Fadnavis had directed BMC to facilitate feeding of pigeons in public spaces in a controlled manner to ensure that the birds do not starve. Even as the civic body maintained that the sites would remain closed until the Bombay High Court hearing on August 7, officials said BMC was exploring the options of feeding for staggered durations, following Fadnavis’s directives.