When India
gained independence from Britain on August 15 1947, the majority of
Anglo-Indians had either left or would leave soon after. By that time, much damage had been done. Indian wealth had been looted and more
importantly, India was presented in a very negative manner – it was projected
to be a land of poor, illiterates, uncultured and snake-charmers. Yet some
people would still hail the British rule and the colonial benefits !
Last year
during an Election campaign, taking a swipe at Congress' general secretary,
Priyanka Gandhi, Prime Minister Mr Narendra
Modi accused Congress of portraying India as a 'land of snake charmers' even
after decades of independence. "There was a time when Congress used to
please foreign guest throw snake charming. The whole world used to believe that
India is only the land of snake charmers and magic. Our image is still being
projected as such even after decades," Prime Minister said while
addressing an election rally. This came a day after Priyanka Gandhi had an unusual
encounter while on the campaign trail in the Rae Bareli constituency of Uttar
Pradesh where she met snake charmers and even petted and held snakes in her
hands.
Sometime back, BBC in a
tweet asked : ‘Should India erase its snake charming
culture to embrace modernity?’. BBC
Pop Up is a travelling bureau that films stories across India. One of its
promotional videos some time ago contained footage of a snake charmer,
prompting criticism from social media users who felt that the image of men
hypnotising snakes no longer symbolised India. So the channel set about
investigating whether snake charmers offend India's cultural identity and
whether that branding holds the country back. It also visited a village of
snake charmers in Delhi to find out how they were coping since the practice was
banned on wildlife protection grounds a decade ago. The conversation that
followed should have pertainted to the fate of India's snake charmers. But BBC
Pop Up's promotional tweet led to talk about racist mindsets instead,
eventually forcing an apology.
The Indian chapter of
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights group, is
known for its extravagant and outspoken campaigns which have often left people
scratching their heads. Recently, PETA struck the wrong note by linking the
festival of Raksha Bandha with cow protection. In its campaign "This Raksha Bandhan, protect cows too", the
animal rights organisation urged people to “go leather-free” this Raksha
Bandhan. Ahead of the Raksha Bandhan
festival, PETA India erected billboards in six cities namely Ahmedabad, Bhopal,
Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kanpur, Patna, and Pune, featuring a cow proclaiming,
“Protect Me- Go Leather-Free”. Netizens
questioned the rationale behind hinging cow protection with Raksha Bandhan when
rakhis are seldom made using leather. A user wrote, “Why
pick a festival which has nothing to do with killing of any animal.” …. But go silent when lambs, cattle, camels
are butchered !
This news is for the eyes
and ears of PETA ~ a pair of 'inseperable' African lions were put
down together at their home in the Los Angeles Zoo so neither would have to
live alone, officials said. Hubert and Kalisa were both 21 years old and had
far outlived their normal lifespan of 14 to 17 years. But were in 'declining
health', the zoo said, and age-related illnesses had 'diminished their quality
of life'.
'The Los
Angeles Zoo is sad to announce the death of our African lion pair, Hubert and
Kalisa,' zoo officials said in a statement Thursday. 'Animal care and health staff made the difficult
decision to humanely euthanize the 21-year-old companions.' As they had remained a pair and inseparable,
they were put down together !!! The
couple were in 'declining health', the zoo said, and age-related illnesses had
'diminished their quality of life' - what is the
determinant of ‘quality’ and who decides that ?
Hubert and Kalisa's
pairing started at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, where the lions met before
being moved to LA in 2014. While Hubert fathered 10 cubs, he never had any with
Kalisa. Hubert was born Feb. 7, 1999 at the Lincoln Park Zoo, while Kalisa was
born Dec. 26, 1998 at Woodland Park. Animal
programs director Beth Schaefer told the LA Times that the lions were
'charismatic both together as partners and separately.' 'Their undivided
attention was always on the other as they rested together, cuddled and nuzzled
often.'
African
lions can sleep as many as 20 hours per day to conserve their energy, according
to the zoo's website. But this permanent sleep is not what they ever would have
wished for. Imagine the hue and cry,
PETA, animal activists, Sickularists and twitteratis would have made, if the
same had happened in India – more so, in a South Indian town, having some
allegiance to a Mutt. Then animal lives would have
been precious ~ now the Zoo is right in determining that they lost their
quality and have no place to live any longer.
Strange are the ways of people ! ~ it is the image that matters most.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
6th Aug 2020.
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