A Voice For The Voiceless By: Esha Deo XI B

A Voice For The Voiceless

By: Esha Deo

What would you do if you saw someone physically abusing a child? Would you speak up or walk away? As   you believe in the fundamental rights, you would speak up against the cruelty and injustice, wouldn’t you? Then why do we become so ignorant when the same plea for justice comes from an animal? Why are animals deprived of their fundamental rights?

Every day countless cats, dogs and other animals suffer and die at the hands of the very people who are supposed to take care and protect them. This concern of cruelty against animals has gained substantial prominence in the recent decades. We need to understand that cruelty is not limited to slaughter but all sorts of suffering for the sake of human entertainment. Gauri Maulekhi, an animal rights activist and a trustee of people for animals (PFA) was interviewed for her achievements and to address the progress and setbacks in justice for animals in India. There has been a recent upsurge in dog attacks in India, their root cause being the atrocious acts committed everyday. A statistic [Source: Canine Journal] shows that a dog bites 1 out of everyone 69 people. This means that dogs are subjected to aggressive behaviour or brutal treatment, aggravating them to fight back for revival. In a question it was revealed that the main issue in India is the improper garbage disposal in cities, where dogs scavenge and thrive in population. Researchers who have been studying for years have found that killing dogs is not the solution. For example, in Surat (1994) a district collector decided to clean the city by killing 14,000 dogs resulting in a plague claiming 52 lives.

In the wake of taking action, the government of our country has been very receptive and cooperative in taking strict action against offenders. In a country like India, where religion dominates the culture of people, the practice of animal sacrifice is founded on the grounds of incorrect interpretation of religious teachings and superstitious beliefs which are firmly rooted in the minds of blind propagators. Furthermore, no religion in the world is a preacher of violence at such grotesque acts: The Supreme Court remarked that –

“These are very sensitive matters, we cannot close our eyes to centuries old traditions followed and start examining them”

Hence, the pivotal that emerges is that:

Can cruelty to animals be allowed under the garb of religion?