(IN) A Political Zoo Story

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A Political Zoo Story

13 November 2009, 08:43pm IST

 

Elephants' chained existences in zoos and circuses are to be trunk-cated, thanks

to the authorities' jumbo hearts. Transported to national parks and

sanctuaries, the tuskers will have head-room and leg-room. They'll need their

heads and, certainly, all four legs. To run for their lives once the forest

official-poacher-ivory trader nexus gets wind of this zoo story. It's like the

conservation fairy tale of the Gangetic dolphin becoming our ''national aquatic

animal''. Not only was that to symbolise riverine health, but also to help rare

species fight extinction. Simple solution: a smart cookie like the dolphin,

reminded of the Ganga's state, would itself act. Seek bluer pastures, that is.

 

Man-animal ties are edgier elsewhere. The porcine kingdom in George Orwell's

book, Animal Farm, had a maxim: ''Four legs good, two legs bad.'' Humans have

retaliated since. They blamed a flu on swine till lab guys traced the bug's

genealogy also to birds and humans. Exposed as birdbrains, humans neutered the

scourge by renaming it H1N1. Just as the animals disarmed, humans struck again.

Municipal authorities have got Section 144 slapped on Gurgaon's resident pigs.

Accused of littering and loitering, the 'offenders' face imminent capture and

relocation. But wait. Since pigs can't fly and relocation's often just a lorry

ride beyond state borders, swine may have pearls cast before them, after all.

They could reform their hygiene in Clean Delhi Green Delhi. And they could learn

civilised maxims like 'Four legs good, two legs better'. Oink, oink.

 

It's sheer generosity, allowing lesser creatures the same leniency, roving

ambassadorship and survival sport as VVIPs disrupting assemblies, hiding scams

or serving life-terms. Proud parochialists, for instance, subject legislatures

to the law of the jungle. So, their constituencies get unrepresented while they

free-range, going hammer and tongues at all migratory birds. Another

well-connected worthy stalks nightclubs before letting red-faced parole-givers

lead him back to his cage. Antecedents straight out of a medieval bestiary don't

deny politicos belly-room in jumbo ministries. And when money launderers are

netted, they show trapeze artistry, swinging from media circuses into specialty

hospitals, Sanctuary No 1 of political zoo stories. As for tiger reserves, think

luxury hotels where non-docile and non-domicile netas are herded when

governments totter. MPs/MLAs being sitting ducks of number-hunters, there's no

haathi chhaap on victimisation by poaching.

 

For similar reasons, bovines needn't resist blame for everything from non-use of

zebra crossings to burps causing global warming. Cops are universal fall-guys

too. Some in Victoria, Canada, decry a mural showing four-leggeds in police

hats, wielding batons. Indian cops have equal cause to combust. Try being beasts

of burden on pain of transfer from one wild life to another. As in a certain

elephantine state whose rulers, aspiring to monumental divinity, threaten to go

on a rampage when caricatured. Then again, Stalin wouldn't find Orwell's crack

at authoritarianism funny, either.

 

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Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org