An elephant died in Kerala. It was a cruel death, caused by its eating a pineapple stuffed with crackers. Exploding crackers burnt the elephant’s mouth and it died in agony, wading into water not helping to assuage the pain. What’s more, the elephant was pregnant. Social media was full of cartoon pictures in which the unborn elephant laments being unborn and even that it cannot meet humans who feed them! Social media also erupted to comment on the inhumanity of it.
Our staid and respectable/reputed newspapers (those that I read at least) did express grief at the tragic ‘accident’ and said that using such traps was against the Wildlife Act. They waxed eloquent on the increasing human-animal conflict. How knowledgeable indeed. But they jumped to observe that we should not try to communalise the issue. In the same breath at least one editorial said there was also the issue that elephants should not be confined (obviously referring to the elephants in temples) but left to the wild habitat where they belonged. Why? So that they ‘encroach’ human extensions into their habitats and be ‘justly’ exterminated? That’s logic for you. But, yes, there’s no need to bring in religion here. There’s a broader aspect to consider.
There was the quick defence of Kerala. Such a model state. See how they tackled Corona? None should malign such a state. An irrelevant argument. It is also to be admitted here that the tragedy was not of the government’s making, but that kind of accusation is bound to be flung about when there is a tendency to make anything and everything an issue for politicisation to gather political brownie points.
There were apologists who meticulously pointed out that the trap was actually set for wild boars, not elephants. How is it that the irony escapes these bright people, some of whom are seen as intellectuals! Very little, if anything at all, is said of the cruelty involved, the inhumanity that seeds the thought process devising such practices. The wild boar is also a living being, with a right to life that is not the sole domain of human beings. It too doesn’t deserve to die so horribly because human beings decree its life on this earth is not worth living. And that is the crux of the matter. We pay lip service to the importance of the environment and absolute sanctity of maintaining ecological balance. But we speak from an egotistical human-centric perspective.Environment and ecological balance are vital because any damage to them couldhave huge repercussions for humans. Even so, those lovely beasts and birds are admirable but they had better not ‘invade’ human habitations. The right to encroach, invade, and conquer all land, water, and sky belongs to that highest of all species – humans. Humans devoid of the essence of humanity.Who needs to bring in religion!