Owners say animals like family, will die if separated from them

NEW DELHI: Mention the name of ‘Farooq Hathiwala’ upon entering north Delhi’s crowded Wazirabad and the locals would instantly point towards a narrow and dusty gali number 6.

A peep inside a shed adjacent to the last house of the lane would reveal a full grown tusker tied with chains, swaying back and forth. “He is on musth (in heat) now and that’s why he is chained. The children have been asked not to go near the otherwise friendly Hira,” said Zakir Ali, 22.

Ali’s family, which owns three elephants at present — Hira, Dhonmoti and Laxmi — has been maintaining these animals for the past five generations.

“The first elephant was gifted to my great-great-grandfather by some Maharaja. These elephants are like family. They are not used for any work,” said Ali.

It takes about ₹1,000 – ₹1,500 per day to maintain each elephant.

“We would die without them. We have proper licence to keep them. It is only because of some animal right activists and influential NGOs that we are being made victims. We will approach the court again if necessary,” said Yusuf Ali, one of the owners.

Family members claimed that the elephants are so friendly that even the children play with the large animals.

However, the family has been tensed ever since the forest department asked them to surrender the animals a year ago.

“The animals will die if they are separated from us. We can’t allow this. We would have nothing to say had they been in poor health or we had kept them illegally. But they are fine here,” said Farooq, a family member.

We would die without them. We have proper licence to keep them... We will approach the court again if necessary. YUSUF ALI, owner of an elephant