Kathmandu, Nov 20 (IANS) Nepal’s coalition government has turned a deaf ear to urgent pleas by celebrated French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot to prevent the slaughter of thousands of birds and animals at a religious fair in the Terai plains next week.

The sex symbol of yesteryear, who left Hollywood in 1973, became a vegetarian and sold her jewellery to found the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals, has written to Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav, urging him to stop the wanton killings at the altar of Hindu goddess Gadhimai in Bara district.

‘I have dedicated my life to protecting animals and the best gift I could receive for this lifelong struggle would be the announcement of the stopping of ritual sacrifice of animals,’ wrote the 75-year-old who has in the past also condemned the mass slaughter of sheep during the Muslim festival of Eid.

The letter, made public by animal rights campaigners in Nepal who are also trying to stop the mass sacrifices, asks the Nepali president how he can tolerate traditions that are ‘violent, cruel and inhumane’.

‘I personally find it hard to imagine that your heart can withstand such cruelty, knowing that you, being the head of the country, are ultimately responsible,’ Bardot wrote to Nepal’s head of state.

She also mentions that last year, she sent a similar request to the prime minister but did not receive an answer.

Last month, renowned Indian animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi had also urged the prime minister to stop the axing of thousands of birds and animals in the cruellest conditions imaginable. But the government said it would not ban the festival for fear of hurting Hindu religious sentiments.

Now, with the government facing the expiry of a week-long ultimatum by the Maoists, the president, who is at the centre of the battle between the ruling parties and the former guerrillas, also chose to ignore the letter.

The foreign ministry told IANS it had not received any instructions from the president’s office.

The Gadhimai fair, described by animal lovers as the world’s largest killing field of animals, is held every five years in Bara.

In 2005, it flourished under the patronage of the king of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, an avid believer in sacrifices himself.

However, with the former Hindu kingdom deciding to become a secular republic, animal rights organisations like Animal Welfare Network Nepal and Alliance Against Animal Sacrifices have been lobbying to put an end to the ‘barbaric tradition’, pointing out that Nepal has abolished other cruel traditions like sati – burning widows on the pyres of their husbands.

But the government, which faces fresh disruption from the Maoists from Saturday over the president, is unwilling to antagonise the Terai, though some ministers say personally they are against sacrifices.

The fair draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from Nepal as well as adjoining Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

This year, the temple authorities say 500,000 buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons will be sacrificed.

The fields turn into rivers of blood with the carcasses being ripped open by vultures amid unimaginable stench.

Maneka Gandhi says the fair is driven by commercial interests with leather industries in both countries bidding for the hides.

Many of the animals are smuggled in from India, avoiding quarantines and unleashing animal-borne diseases in Nepal.

About 15 years ago, a deadly cattle plague entered the republic through the fair and Nepal is still fighting to eradicate it.

This year, animal activists have warned that the mass killings could trigger outbreaks of bird flu and other animal-borne diseases that can affect humans as well.