PETA, the notorious organization that destroys indigenous communities under the garb of animal rights activism and veganism has been going after the livelihoods of several communities by petitioning the courts to ban certain activities that involve animals.
Earlier, it tried to meddle with the breeding of indigenous cow and bull breeds by seeking a ban on Jallikattu. The organic uproar that emerged from Tamil Nadu made it run helter-skelter. Likewise, they moved the court to ban Kambala in Karnataka.
After interfering with bulls and cows, PETA is now after elephants and the communities dependent on it.
Very recently they were instrumental in taking away Lakshmi the elephant from her home in Manakula Vinayagar Temple in Puducherry by the forest department saying that she was being ‘ill treated’. An organized resistance put up by various Hindu groups and upon the intervention of Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanaswamy, the jumbo was brought back home who on her return trumpeted with joy and jubilance. But this has not stopped PETA from filing another case with the Madras High Court to remove her from her home and keep her in a sanctuary.
In their latest attempt, they filed a petition at the Rajasthan High Court to ban elephant rides in Amber fort. That means they were about to hit the stomach of one lakh people and push them into poverty.
But the court dismissed the case. The reason was that the original report written by Manilal Valliyate of PETA India, Suparna Ganguly of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC), and others was published in Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) letterhead and was pushed into court as an AWBI report by the ex-Vice Chairman of AWBI Chinny Krishna, while none of these persons belong to AWBI.
The court dismissed the case and asked them to get out. The WRRC along with Gauri Maulekhi (BJP MP Maneka Gandhi’s aide), Canadian film-maker Sangita Iyer (recommended for Narishakti Puraskar Award by Maneka Gandhi), PETA India, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI, run by Belinda Wright) and a few other NGOs went and joined the petition with writ petition 743/2014 at the Supreme Court which is the mother of all petitions that seeks to ban all temple elephants and private elephants.
This time, the Supreme Court asked Project Elephant to conduct the inspection on elephants used for rides. But the bewildering aspect in this is that the Supreme court let the complainant itself as a member inspection committee.
The Director of Project Elephant is Noyal Thomas, a Malayali just like Manilal Valliyate. Noyal Thomas has formed a new committee with four members which is a sub-committee of the Elephant Welfare Committee at the Project Elephant. However, they have excluded KK Sharma, a senior veterinarian and a Padma awardee who is probably one of the best experts on elephants. KK Sharma was part of the earlier inspections conducted at Jaipur. Among the four members, one member Dr. Manoharan from Tamil Nadu is accused of killing an elephant and also has corruption allegations against him.
This is a multibillion dollar sabotage that is about to happen. PETA India and other organizations have received foreign donations in crores through the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). PETA along with in the last 5 years received around ₹42.55 crores while WPSI has received ₹8.13 crores. Here are some of the details of the other NGOs that has received foreign donations.
There is an organized campaign being run in Europe, India, USA jointly with Wildlife SOS to take animals from traditional communities and donate them to sanctuaries. For every animal taken to a sanctuary, these individuals or organizations are rewarded monetarily and are also recommended for various awards. For example, Wildlife SOS holds illegal elephant sanctuaries in India where they have more than 30 elephants. Six of them were killed.
It is high time the Prime Minister’s Office wakes up to the nefarious activities done at the behest of Maneka Gandhi and co who are hell belt on breaking traditional communities and their livelihoods.
(Views expressed are author’s own)