(IN)Bishnois yet to forgive Salman

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*http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2318171.cms*

*'Salman ruling has cut down blackbuck poaching'

*29 Aug 2007, 0105 hrs IST,Avijit Ghosh,TNN

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BAGDA KI DHANI (JODHPUR): For Bishnois in Bagda ki Dhani near Jodhpur,

the scars are still fresh after Salman Khan was caught for poaching

blackbucks.

 

Class VIII student Dinesh Bishnoi, reflects the sentiment of the village,

which considers the animal as a 'child', ''Salman Khan has been sent to

jail. That's how it should have been,'' he says. The term, Bishnoi,

originates from the 29 tenets (Bish means 20 and noi is nine) that the

community, mainly found in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana, follows.

Protecting trees and wild animals are two such tenets. And as the band of

actors from Bollywood realised that fateful night, the Bishnois follow it

aggressively.

 

Driving through the Bishnoi villages in Kankani and around, one finds deer

and blackbucks grazing in the fields. Many move around in large group of

15-20. Beniwal narrates the recent incident of a Bishnoi woman in Bawarla

village, situated on the Delhi-Jodhpur road, who fed her own milk to a baby

deer.

 

''We protect deer, rabbit, chinkara, blackbucks, blue bulls, peacocks and

many other animals. The good news is that since Salman Khan was sent to

jail, nobody comes to kill animals near our villages,'' says Babulal

Bishnoi, a rich farmer with 85 bighas of land.

 

Back in the 18th century, 363 Bishnois were martyred trying to stop trees

from being felled at Khejarli village. The new generation of Bishnois have

continued the community's love-affair with trees.

 

Dinesh, 15, has planted five neem and safeda saplings. Premi Bishnoi, a

13-year-old girl, has sowed two neem and one safeda saplings. ''Trees are

good for the environment. Everybody likes greenery,'' she says. Who would

disagree?

 

avijit.ghosh