Elephant Polo Campaign: Important Clarification

[Guest guest]

Dear Madam,

 

Thank you very much for issuing this public clarification, which in my mind

should clear any misunderstandings that have occurred between Daniel and me in

the past and also for the elephant polo campaign.

 

As stated cogently earlier, the elephant polo campaign as manifested today

internationally, is largely a result of the campaign carried out by my

colleague Azam Siddiqui and me to stop an elephant polo match organized in

Jaipur in Rajasthan in 2006. We personally contacted many experts and

activists to send in messages to halt the match and were gratified that they

assisted us although the match went ahead due to the intransigent attitude

of the organisers. As I have publicly acknowledged in the past, you were one

of the notable celebrities who opposed the match and we were, and remain

thankful for your support. Since I am also aware of your involvement with

captive elephant welfare starting from the days of Pole Pole in London Zoo,

I have nothing but admiration for your efforts to help these majestic

creatures who should not be made to perform tricks for human amusement.

 

The campaign involved the construction of the website that goes by the name

of ‘United Against Elephant Polo’ that was the singular effort of the hard

work put in by my colleague, Azam Siddiqui of Assam who has undergone

professional training in elephant management in Kenya from Dame Daphne

Sheldrick and has ceaselessly worked for the cause of elephants and other

animals in India, especially North India.

 

I would beseech everyone to have a look again :

 

www.stopelephantpolo.com

 

It is a popular website featured on Wikipedia also. Here :

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_polo

 

I was given to understand that the meeting organized at Singapore was

somewhat rushed and did not cover the background and the current state of

involvement of all parties who have been quoted on the website. It was

further brought to my attention that there would be another website built on

similar lines to deal with this game.

 

Azam cogently and categorically told me that his plea for understanding the

role of PETA was not properly addressed along with several other issues

regarding the website and the nature of the future campaign. As at least 50%

of the contents of that website were contributed by me, we shared a common

concern that the same material would be copied for use to create another

website when one already exists. Our concern was aggravated when Daniel

wrote his first email suggesting something similar and I shot off my missive

which I do admit, was intemperate and I certainly regret it, especially

after both Daniel and you have clarified that there was no intention to

hijack the existing campaign and the website.

 

However, it did appear that some members of the elephant polo meeting in

Singapore would go ahead with the development of the new website porting in

content from the current website disregarding Azam’s justifiably stringent

opposition. And this is what made me mull taking resort to legal action if

the move went ahead and Azam and I were in concurrence on this. Subsequent

messages have cleared the issue to a large extent and after an Indian animal

rights organization offered to move out of the campaign as a result of our

warnings, I personally thought the entire issue was raking in more trouble

than it was worth reckoning with and I personally offered to move out of the

campaign.

 

Subsequently, Daniel issued a clarification that I found reasonable and

satisfactory. Ms Ingrid Newkirk of PETA stepped too to urge cooperation on

all sides. And now your letter does provide a lot of solace for which I

personally am grateful.

 

Kindly note that some confusion might have been added due to the fact that

individuals in different countries have not received all messages in the

sequence they were sent and therefore responses have been ad hoc and

somewhat arbitrary. This certainly has been regrettable.

 

In conclusion, I would submit that after clarifying letters from you, Daniel

and Ms Newkirk we are in a much better position to understand each other’s

stance and any further issues could be sorted out by personal email. I also

can say that I have no further issues to sort out with Daniel in this regard

or whatever has happened between us in the past. The elephant polo campaign

has been transparent since it started in 2006 and there is no reason why it

should not continue to be so.

 

Azam however has asked me to insert one concern which I share with him. It

is regrettable that we have not received the kind of extensive support that

we would have liked over the years since the Jaipur match took place in

2006. There is reason to believe there are differing trains of thought on

this sport since at least some individuals working for animal welfare/rights

have made it amply cogent that they see it as a benign activity. This makes

the campaign more difficult to coordinate since different perspectives need

to be considered and we would be grateful if you could take this aspect of

the issue into cognizance. As Ingrid Newkirk has stated, the path for the

campaigners for this sport has been a lonely one to tread and has

encountered heavy, heavy opposition from very powerful quarters.

 

I find it appropriate to state and urge all to parley on this issue further

so that we can all contribute towards ending this cruel sport. As for my

personal involvement is concerned, I have voluntarily offered to move out

of this campaign but if my presence and input are deemed worthwhile, I may

have cause to reconsider my decision.

 

May I also add that I have just finished reading our fascinating

autobiography and hope that many more individuals, including those involved

in this campaign, will read it to draw inspiration from your words and work

for the benefit of man and animal alike.

 

I remain grateful for your moral support in the past and hope that we can

find a way to work together with all interested parties for this and other

issues. Thank you very much for your time and trouble and if anyone has felt

hurt by any of my previous messages, I say sorry. I would be happy to talk

to Daniel one on one if he has anything to sort out with me personally.

 

Good wishes to everyone at the Born Free Foundation and the Singapore

elephant polo coalition.

 

With best regards,

 

 

 

 

 

On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 10:16 PM, Virginia McKenna

<virginiawrote:

 

> Dear Friends and Colleagues

>

>

>

> I am responding, briefly, to the email I received from Mr

> dated 29th January concerning elephant polo.

>

>

>

> Let me be very clear. Mr Ghosh is a strong and dedicated advocate of human

> and animal rights. I have met him on several occasions and there can be no

> doubt as to his sincerity and commitment.

>

>

>

> Equally, Daniel Turner, who works for Born Free Foundation, is a man of

> enormous integrity and commitment who works endless hours on behalf of

> animals.

>

>

>

> It is my understanding that at a recent conference, Daniel was approached

> by a number of delegates who asked him to assist them in developing a work

> plan in relation to elephant polo and, in light of these numerous requests,

> Daniel assisted in the formation of an *ad hoc* working group which

> identified a number of needs, both in terms of information gathering,

> campaign strategy and collaboration with other NGOs.

>

>

>

> I can assure you that there was no intention by Daniel or the Group, to

> marginalise or disregard, in any way, the significant and important efforts

> that Mr Ghosh has made on this issue in the past and I am sure that should

> the group wish to involve Mr Ghosh, he would be most welcome.

>

>

>

> I am concerned about the way that Mr Ghosh has described Daniel and has

> questioned his motivation. I am also aware that while Mr Ghosh has indicated

> that he is willing to let bygones by bygones and move forward in a positive

> way, he has also written to others, threatening legal action of some kind

> (although I am mystified as to the basis which any action could possibly be

> based).

>

>

>

> I am therefore asking that all parties be aware of the situation and I am

> calling upon Mr Ghosh to contact Daniel directly and not through third

> parties, to resolve any issues that might exist. I have asked my son, Will

> Travers, CEO of Born Free Foundation, to monitor and assist where possible.

>

>

>

> I do not think that, for the sake of the animals, and in this case,

> specifically the elephants, this situation should be allowed to continue as

> it is. We need to keep all energy and focus for them.

>

>

>

> Thank you for your time and patience and my very good wishes to you all.

>

>

>

> Virginia

>

>

>

>

>

> Born Free Foundation

>

> Tel: 01403 240 170

>