Beat this. The latest to join Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption are the animal rights activists. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations wrote that “animals continue to suffer horrendously due to poor governance and corruption. The India Against Corruption campaign resonates strongly with the animal protection movement.”
If Anna is trying to educate the “countrymen” of Jan Lokpal Bill and on the verge of launching a “second freedom struggle”, the animal rights activists want the PM to focus on how the “dogs are killed mercilessly and the guilty are not even booked, let alone punished.” And there is more.
“Parakeets are frequently caged and used as an added attraction by fortune tellers for fast money, monkeys are made to dance like puppets and cattle and sheep are transported and slaughtered illegally, in addition to the abusive lives they have had.”
While Mr Hazare talks of price rise and inflation, the activists reminded Dr Singh of how “animals are hit, dragged and cruelly handled and are often not provided with even basic necessities such as food, water and veterinary treatment. At the slaughterhouse, they are killed in view of one another and are often dismembered and skinned while they are still conscious.”
And this is all due to “poor governance”, they feel. “Poor governance and deception have conspired to block important animal protection legislation that has been due for a long time.”
And finally the organisation states: “We support Anna Ji and the rest of the country in this movement and are hopeful that at least now, a strong anti corruption legislation is brought in which will bring in the much needed relief to all those who are disempowered, including the animals.”
My take
The Animal Rights movement gets hampered by corruption too. Animal trafficking is overlooked by check post authorities because they are bribed, animals are slaughtered illegally because the slaughter house veterinarian is bribed, poachers go scot free because forest authorities are bribed, etc. The list is endless...There are laws in place for the welfare of the animals but most often the stakeholders manage to persuade the authorities to overlook it by luring them with bribe. Earlier Anna ji’s fight for freedom to information led to implementation of the Right to Information Act 2005. Since then this act is used by activists of different streams to procure information from public authorities on relevant matters.
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