2020 - The Dawn of Justice for the man-made brutalities on elephants?
2020 has been a year which has suddenly exceeded all our expectations of what could go wrong! It has occurred largely not in a good way, if you look at the facade. But delving slightly beyond it, you will find how it has changed the perception of mankind.
Acts of cruelty were prevalent from a long time. This year however has been cruel to us in terms of a novel strain of corona virus that has got us on our feet. I am referring to the recent incident in South India where the death of a pregnant elephant after she ate a pineapple filled with crackers has left all of us in sudden outrage.
Has this mishap struck an emotional chord with us due to the pregnancy of the elephant or that this year has shown what cruelty can be to us? Whichever it is, this incident brought out a loophole in the farming practices of South India that is well Pre-existing. Farmers in the south are known to use fruits laden with crackers to keep animals away from their fields.
This incident could happen to any other animal with no concern from anyone so far. Let me recall an enriching experience from my visit to Hampi, Karnataka in 2019. One of the main attractions of the Virupaksha Temple is that as you enter, you are blessed by an elephant patting his/her tusk on your head.
I won’t disagree that I was initially a bit scared. The idea that you are going to interact with a big animal is intriguing itself! But elephants are usually calm unless they get offended for some reason. Few days later, I was blessed to observe the same elephant bathing in the waters of the Tungabhadra.
Another overwhelming response came regarding the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary and elephant reserve. The Gauhati High Court has been prompt in issuing notices to the Centre, state, Coal India and other stakeholders. The action came in the aftermath of a suo motu case against coal mining in the rain forest in Assam which would render the elephants inhabiting it homeless.
Such PILs are a fresh feat amidst the discouraging debates that are circulating otherwise. Some of the discussions include how animals are killed for fulfilling the food chain. A question we need to ponder upon is whether we keep doing a reason-less killing for the sake of an entire different set of arguable actions.
The farmers here will say how their crops are at stake. But in this age of technology, would you choose killing innocent or better ideas to safeguard the crops?
Author: Debapriya Banerjee
District 3291 Rotaract Club of East Calcutta
1 Comments
A very sad incident it was. On one side people are fighting to safeguard the species and on the other side people are killing them. The authorities must be strong enough to deal with such issues.
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