What happened
With Bakrid 2026 arriving, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nitesh Rane offered the Muslim community an innovative theological-technological workaround: instead of the traditional animal sacrifice, devotees could simply pull up a picture of a goat on a computer screen and "virtually show it being sacrificed." Rane drew a straight line from his proposal to government campaigns for "dry Holi" and "cracker-free Diwali," apparently untroubled by the fact that his government has never actually enforced either. The suggestion went viral immediately, drawing a sharp rebuke from Haji Arafat Shaikh — a BJP leader from Rane's own party — who offered Rane a simple test: "Try eating paper instead of mutton, and see how that feels." The Maharashtra government, meanwhile, invoked the MCOCA anti-organized-crime law for cow-related violations around Eid. The ministry has not proposed a digital substitute for Holi bonfires.