MANEKA SLAMS MAHA GOVT, SAYS AVNI KILLING GHASTLY
NEWDELHI:WOMEN and child development (WCD) minister Maneka Gandhi on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led Maharashtra government over the “ghastly murder” of man-eating tigress Avni, calling it a “straight case of crime”. Tigress Avni, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 13 people in the past two years, was killed in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on Friday as part of an operation. Avni is survived by her two cubs who are 10 months old. She was shot dead by sharp-shooter Asgar Ali, son of famous sharp-shooter Nawab Shafat Ali, at compartment no 149 of Borati forest under the jurisdiction of the Ralegaon police station.
Reacting to the killing of Avni, Gandhi, in a series of tweets, lashed out at the Maharashtra government for giving the orders to kill her despite opposition
Tiger Conservation Authority) guidelines on Monday.”
The tiger is India’s national animal and is categorised as a ‘Schedule One’ species of endangered animals under the Wildlife Protection Act. While retaliatory attacks on tigers by villagers are common in areas where incidents of man-animal conflict are on the rise, the World Wildlife Fund says large-scale habitat destruction is a major long-term threat to the dwindling tiger population from several stakeholders.
“I am deeply saddened by the way tigress Avni has been brutally murdered in Yavatmal,” she said in a tweet. “It is nothing but a straight case of crime. Despite several requests from many stakeholders, (Sudhir) Mungantiwar, Minister for Forests, Maharashtra, gave orders for the killing.” She said she is going to take up the matter “very strongly” with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“I am definitely going to take up this case of utter lack of empathy for animals as a test case. Legally, criminally as well as politically,” she said.
Gandhi also came down heavily on Mungantiwar for giving orders to private marksman Shafat Ali Khan’s son to carry out the hunting operation.
“Every time he has used Hyderabad-based shooter Shafat Ali Khan, and this time his son has also appeared in the scene illegally to murder the tigress,” she
tweeted.
in India.
“As tigers continue to lose their habitat and prey species, they are increasingly coming into conflict with humans as they attack domestic animals – and sometimes people.
In retaliation, tigers are often killed by angry villagers,” according to WWF. Experts say there is a need to respect the habitat of tigers, with only about 3,900 of them remaining across the world.