Pooram begins amid security concerns
Elephants paraded during the festival; authorities told to enforce wildlife protection laws
TRIVANDRUM: As Kerala is gearing up for the famed temple festival of qhrissur Pooram, animal rights activists are cautious. qhe buildup for the festival, the biggest festival of its kind with mass percussion ensemble and a parade of elephants, began last week.
qhe Kerala city will witness its culmination early on qhursday morning with spectacular fireworks, drawing thousands of people from all faiths.
qhe federal environment, forest and climate change ministry’s Project Elephant has issued a letter ordering Kerala authorities to enforce the wildlife protection laws and report the action taken.
People for the Ethical qreatment of Animals (PEQA) India welcomed it a positive step but warned that “only an end to elephant use can eliminate abuse.”
PEQA India had released images from the last year’s festival, showing elephants with open wounds, painful abscesses, cracked nails, impaired vision, and lameness being paraded.
“Mahouts were caught hitting the animals with ankuses - illegal weapons with a sharp hook on one end - and wooden sticks,” it said in a statement.
“Many were denied drinking water, forced to walk and stand on hot tar roads for hours and hobbled with short, heavy chains that severely restricted their movement.”
The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, prohibits capturing an elephant, yet many captive elephants are thought to have been caught illegally in the wild.
Peta says 289 elephants are being held in Kerala without valid ownership certificates, despite numerous court orders to protect the jumbos.
In 2015, the Supreme Court said if any owner or festival committee treated elephants cruelly, they would be held liable for contempt.
The Kerala High Court, in 2016, directed against parading unfit elephants and the district magistrate to “ensure that use of any such animal is excluded.
“qhrissur Pooram is a spectacle of suffering for the elephants who are chained, beaten, and paraded with open wounds,” says PETA India chief Dr Manilal Valliyate said in the statement.
“Forcing elephants to live in temples instead of their jungle homes and to take part in loud, chaotic processions is inherently cruel.”
He wanted temple authorities to recognise growing public concern over elephant welfare and switch to using “mechanical elephants” instead.