MyVoice: Views of our readers 6th June 2020

Pachyderm politics

The gruesome killing of a pregnant elephant at Mannarkkad in Kerala's Palakkad district exemplified man's cruelty to animals. In all probability, the practice of killing wild boars and pigs with firecracker-stuffed fruits to protect crops cost the elephant her life.

The locals must find better ways than using explosive-laden fruits to keep wild animals away from farms and plantations. Since the victim was a she-elephant, poaching for tusks was ruled out. The leads from one apprehended suspect may help the police solve the crime.

The chilling incident in Palakkad has brought the unresolved man-animal conflict into focus. Man must repudiate cruelty to animals and replace it with kindness for them. He must coexist with wildlife for his own and their sake.

He must stop the destruction of wildlife habitats and preserve biodiversity. Even coronavirus is said to have originated from a wet market in Wuhan where live wildlife was sold for meat. It's time to redefine man-wildlife relations and interactions with "Live and let live" as a guiding principle.

Meanwhile, it was unfortunate that BJP leaders Prakash Javadekar and Maneka Gandhi tried to blame and besmirch the predominantly Muslim district of Malapuram and LDF government and Rahul Gandhi of all for the unconscionable incident on the fringes of the Silent Valley National Park despite knowing that they were guilt-less.

G.David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

II

The killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala with a pineapple , filled with powerful explosive material is in- human and we should bow our heads in shame for such cruel acts against mute creatures (June 4).

It is amusing human beings feel that they are so strong and can control nature and mute animals/ birds but in reality they are so weak and cannot contain the virus despite having education, wisdom and technology as proved in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Mahatma Gandhi said that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated and we must introspect ourselves how far we are following the footsteps of Father of the Nation, leave alone God's own country.

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao, Hyderabad

Defacement of Gandhi statue is terrible

When Mahatma Gandhi, torch-bearer of peace and upholder of humanitarian values without discrimination has been hailed as the gentle prophet and is revered world over, his statue in front of Indian Embassy in Washington DC being defaced with graffiti by miscreants reveals the existence of moral decadence which he fought so strongly to put an end.

There is no iota of doubt that the wrong-doers' deliberate act is an insult to Americans because the statue was unveiled in 2000 by the then President of US Bill Clinton in the august presence of then Prime Minister of India Atal BeharI Vajpayee to showcase its honour of a Mahatma, a symbol of human magnificence.

Despite US officials apologising and assuring the culprits would be brought to book, the image of defacement of Gandhi's statue at a time when his thoughts remain as essential as ever and offer solutions to several problems the world faces will linger in the minds of all right-thinking and peace loving people the world over.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

Farmers may get exploited

The new ordinance "One India, One Agriculture Market" approved by the Centre exacerbates the farmers' plight. Removing cereals, pulses, onion, potato and oil like products from Essential Commodities list emboldens black marketers to exploit gullible consumers.

Non availability of these items leads to malnutrition which will have cascading effect on health and growth of poor who are at the lower rung of society. Law provides farmers to have contracts with corporate wholesalers for pre agreed price.

On the face of it, it also authorises farmers to fix the price for their output. Most of the Indian farmers cultivate small quantity of land and they find it difficult to make both ends meet.

Can they enter into agreements with big traders? It is next to impossible for such farmers to have contracts with corporates for future trading. It is also not possible for farmers to fix the price for their products as they do not have storage facilities to keep the stock.

Most of farmers need to travel minimum of ten kilometres to make their products available for marketing. In the end, ultimately, corporates and middlemen Nexus pool the small farmers together and hoodwink then as usual.

By bringing this ordinance, govt apparently has abdicated it's responsibility of supporting farmers. This ordinance paves way for future and forward trading which is a failed experiment in Western countries. A rethink is need of the hour.

G Thirupathaiah, Hyderabad