By Deepa Nair

Elephant woes
Kerala’s educated and highly-literate people seem to be on a mission to exterminate the elephant population. The pachyderm is in danger. Yesterday a hapless elephant was electrocuted in Kottayam .The elephant was being transported on a truck. The poor animal hit the low hanging electric cables and died immediately. Every week there are so many cases of elephants dying in extremely tragic and painful circumstances. The elephant is a majestic mammal. It is an animal that arouses our awe and respect. Today elephants have been reduced to mere money-making machines by temples and nefarious elephant owners. Elephants mean big money for many.
Providing elephants for temple festivals is a lucrative venture. Elephants are transported from one festival venue to another on top of lorries and trucks. They are tied with ropes and made to stand for hours. The tired elephant is then forced to walk for kilometers and kilometers carrying the deity on its back. Sometimes the journey may last for 12 hours a day. Elephants are made to walk on hot tarred roads. They are not provided food or water for hours together. They are subjected to merciless torture by cruel and loutish mahouts. Most of the mahouts are an underpaid under educated lot. Animal rights are something they are unaware of and they relish torturing the helpless animals. It probably gives them a vicarious sense of power when they torture these gentle animals in front of a devout audience. The devotees are lost in their consumerist prayers. How can they see or understand the pain suffered by the poor animal. We are so lost in our prayers for possessions that we close our eyes to the plight of this beautiful animal
Kerala is a consumer state. We produce rubber and we torture elephants. This is not God’s own country. It is a madhouse where human beings delight in exterminating animals and claiming huge insurance amounts.

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