On June 8, Environment Ministry came with a report of primary investigations which stated: “Death of 15-year-old pregnant elephant in Kerala has found that it may have accidentally consumed a cracker-stuffed fruit and ministry also noted that many a times locals resort to an illegal act of planting explosive-filled fruits to repel wild boars from entering plantation farms.”
World Gaj Day is celebrated from 2012 on August 12, to spread awareness about Asian and African elephants. Gaj Mahotsav is organized on this day in India by the Wildlife Trust of India and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Its purpose is to make people aware of the status of elephants through painting and paintings. The Red List of IUCN lists African and Asian elephants as vulnerable and endangered species. Presently the population of African elephants is about 4 lakhs while the population of Asian elephants is about 40 thousand. But according to an Indian Express report, between 2014 -2019, 510 elephants died all over India as a result of electrocution, train accidents, poaching and poisoning. This also questions the authority to the Justice of Jumbo and protection of the law.
Speaking to India Today TV, BJP’s Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi said, "After all, if they (culprits) could plant a bomb in the pineapple, it means it was a professional bomb and today they have used it against an elephant, tomorrow they will use these bombs against humans." After the primary investigation report by MoEFCC, this also questions the controversial statement of Maneka Gandhi, who is correct.
Apart from this Twitter was outraged to not only elephant issue but also on a cow, as there were no arrests have been made which amped up the netizens digital outrage on Twitter. One wrote, “What the hell is wrong with this world? Then Elephant now a Cow? Is there any humanity alive? Shame on every human! This world would be a better place only if all humans will be extinct!” While another
tweeted, “Heartbroken, speechless, angry and shocked to read the news about the pregnant cow in Himachal Pradesh. Also about the hypocrisy and selective activism of people like you. How can anyone be so cruel? Hope the guilty are punished severely.” and yet another agitated, “Justice for Nandini, This is Unacceptable, Humanity is dead really… Media Quiet… Intellectual Quiet… #ShameOnHumanity(sic) #JusticeforNandini #JusticeForHimachalCow (sic).”
People also started the comparing the disparity of social media tweet by various agencies by “ANI: 13 tweets, Maneka Gandhi: 3 tweets, Prakash Javadekar: one tweet, Akshay Kumar: one tweet and Virat Kohli: one tweet condemning Kerala Elephant death, whereas tweets by above condemning pregnant Cow incident in Himachal Pradesh is zero”. Politics over animals is not new to India it since ages. The animal lovers who were vocal few days ago are all still silent. The level of hypocrisy is astounding.
It has not stopped here on June 8, another case of death of Jackal as the bomb was wrapped in meat which explodes in its mouth near Jeeyapuram in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. A forest department official told IANS “The 12 men had gone to collect honey in a village and found a jackal roaming around. To hunt it for its meat and its teeth, the gypsies had packed explosives inside meat pieces and strewn at several places that the jackal frequents,” If the forest is not a place where an animal can live freely then where they will go. Mahatma Gandhi has already pointed out that the world is sufficient for man's need but not for man's greed but still we ignore. Why we should care? Forests are our and we will do whatever we want, we will give money and laws are weak bro let’s play with an animal this has become the tendency of human attitude these days. Tiger, Jackal, Elephants are under schedule-I animal under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 but due to weak laws culprits come out very easily and tend to do crime also increase day by day. We need to protest not only for our future and also for the Birds and animals too does protest will make our demand fulfil.
Article 51-A (g) of Indian Constitution which deals with Fundamental Duties of the citizens also states: “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures” and Article 48-A which deals with Directive Principles of State Policy states that the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Does it now stand anywhere? Apart from this what has happened to Article 21 of Indian Constitution which is for protection of life and personal liberty No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. The Article prohibits the deprivation of the above rights except according to a procedure established by law. Does it is only for humans not for animals?
A recent report by TRAFFIC, a leading wildlife trade monitoring network, has recorded a significant increase in poaching in India during the over two-month lockdown period (poaching incidences rose from 35 to 88). The report titled “Indian wildlife amidst the COVID-19 crisis: An analysis of the status of poaching and illegal wildlife trade” was an analysis of instances of poaching during a six-week pre-lockdown period (10th February to 22nd March 2020) to those from six weeks of lockdown (23rd March to 3rd May 2020). It also talked about poaching incidences for consumption and local trade have more than doubled during lockdown although there was no evidence of stockpiling of wildlife products for future trade. All these questions are still questionable till the Wildlife and forest law remains weak and there is a need for amending these old laws.
