(IN): Jumbo fair has been downsized

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http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4 & theme= & usrsess=1 & id=237463

 

*Jumbo fair has been downsized*

 

By Sudha Palit

The month-long cattle fair that is held every November in Sonepur, Bihar, is

a major event. Recently it was in the news for a reason unconnected with

animals. As in all fairs, there are eating stalls at the Sonepur mela. A

Dutch couple visiting the fair felt hungry and wanted to eat something.

There was a stall selling samosas and the couple asked the shopkeeper for

four of those. The shopkeeper priced the samosas at Rs 2,500 each and

charged the couple Rs 10,000. The tourists paid this amount for the humble

snacks.

Fortunately, the authorities managing the fair had organised a " community

police force " of 300 people. These volunteers were on the alert to check any

fraudulent activities at the fair. The volunteers came to know of the

incident and confronted the shopkeeper. He was forced to return Rs 9,900 to

the Dutch couple, and was allowed to keep Rs 10, which was the price of the

four samosas that he had sold. He was warned not to dupe any more innocent

customers.

But what were Dutch tourists doing at the cattle fair? Obviously they had

not gone there to buy cattle. It may not be well known, but the Sonepur

cattle fair draws huge crowds every year, which includes many foreign

tourists. This is evidently one of the exotic sights that they want to

include in their itinerary. And since it is bang in the middle of the

tourist season, the timing is also convenient. The Sonepur fair is believed

to be at least 2,400 years old. It was always been known to be a cattle fair

and has a legal trade in horses, cows and buffaloes, which are domesticated

animals. When the transaction is made and the money paid, a legitimate

receipt is given. However, the fair's main sale has been that of elephants.

But unlike the sale of cattle, regarded as a legal transaction, the sale of

elephants has been banned by the forest department since 2003. This is

because their abode is the forest and no fauna belonging to a jungle can be

sold.

But elephants have been the mainstay of the sales at the fair. There is a

reason for this. According to mythology, Lord Krishna saved an elephant from

a crocodile at the junction of the river Gandak and the Ganges, and this is

the site of the fair. The Bihar government did send an appeal to the central

government, stressing the religious significance of this annual mela, and

asking them to revoke their order banning the sale of elephants. But their

request was ignored.

However, in spite of the government ban, the jumbos are still being sold at

the fair, for a price ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. But no receipt

is given. Instead, there is a donation slip offered to the buyer of the

animal, which says: " I am donating my elephant to so and so " .

The government's policy has affected the sale of elephants at the Sonepur

fair. In the 1970s and 1980s, as many as 3,000 to 4,000 elephants used to

come to Sonepur from faraway places like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and

even from other countries like Myanmar and Malaysia. And till 2003, hundreds

of buyers for the jumbos would come from Kerala to buy elephants.

But these buyers have now stopped coming because the transaction is not

allowed legally.

 

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