It has been close to 4 months now that all of us have been locked in our houses. During this period our lives have changed, the meaning of humanity has changed. There was a bright light of hope that could be seen, until what happened on the 27th of May in Kerela.
A 15-year old pregnant elephant breathed her last in the silent valley of Palakkad. Her death was resorted to the consumption of harmful substance stuffed in a pineapple. This particular incident attracted many eyes. The incident was very unfortunate and we highly have our condolences towards it.
It has been over a week, and many sources have covered this issue in many ways. But, our motto at SPINS is not not to lay facts down, but to ask a few questions to the people, to the government, to ourselves. Even in this sad incidence, the Indian media and a group of few uneducated people (that’s what we feel they are) did not hesitate from spreading communal hatred and fake news.
The very first was that the elephant was intentionally fed the pineapple in order to kill her. Here is a fact check. The people did not know the elephant was pregnant. The mother elephant had entered into the domestic cultivation field of the local farmers and by herself had eaten the pineapple which was placed for safety purpose, to drive away and kill wild animals like boars. The Kerela government had itself allowed the citizens to do so.
But here shoots up our first question. Even if the pineapple was mistakenly consumed by the elephant. It was not kept for her or intentionally fed to her. It was there for killing the wild boars. But how far is this justified? Is killing a boar less inhumane? In the year 1960, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was passed by the Indian Parliament. Section 11 of the same Act stresses on on stopping various acts of cruelty such as beating, kicking, overriding of animal, employment of unfit animals, administration of injurious drugs to them, confining or caging them, etc.
If the Act clearly outlines these guidelines, what gave the Kerela government the right to permit the citizens to allow the usage of such techniques to drive away wild animals. There are many other ways to keep away the wild animals from the domestic farms. What is your thought on it?
The second is even a nastier one. Giving a religious angle to the incident. A news claiming that two Muslim men named Amzath Ali and Thamim Shaikh were the culprits behind the death of the elephant and were arrested by the Police. Famous Amar Prasad Reddy, the media advisor of the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Affairs tweeted the same. Many others including the famous journalist Deepak Chaurasiya tweeted similar comments.
The entire incident was given a communal angle. I mean at least for once, we could stop talking about religion and focus on being more humane. Later such reports were denied by the Palakkad Superintendent of Police G Siva Vikram. He further reported the arrest of one caretaker of the farm named P. Wilson was arrested in the cases. The owners of the farm are also the alleged culprits behind this incident.
With a lot of WhatsApp forwards and fake news, people have started believing in all the wrong things. The practice of such actions have led to a downfall of the Indian journalism. These actions are a mere attempt of illegitimate people to spread unrest among the people.
The news of a similar incident against a cow in Himachal Pradesh came out to the picture today. While debate continues on the topic, we need to sit aback and think were is this world heading towards. The incidents of violence against animals are increasing day after day. All we do is to share and post pictures. There is no value of trying to extinguish a fire with a bucket of water when it has already gone out of control. We need to work on our fundamentals and from now lets pledge to report every injustice that we see before our eyes. The world can change only if we take a step forward.
I hope I could do some good by posting this article. Animals can speak, but their language is not understood by us. Let’s stop being cruel to these tiny creatures. During this time, let’s inculcate more humanity among ourselves. Till everything sets back to normal Please Stay at your home and Stay Safe.
– Sampurna Panigrahi
SPINS 