Influential men were caught by locals after killing the eighth chinkara deer in Tharparkar. |
A young man Ajeet Singh Sodho valiantly resisted and banged his vehicle to the jeep of the horrid hunters amid the volley of bullets. The locals rushed to the location, caught three hunters and handed them over to the police. Cruelty against animals is common in Pakistan. But as they say, there should be a method to the madness. The civilized world has abandoned this callous practice of hunting for pleasure. In today’s world, killing poor animals who are important cogs in natural beauty and keeping the delicate ecological balance intact is not only a crime but is considered an abhorrent social ill.
We as a society are still stuck in the dark aeons of the distant past when cruelty against wildlife was major pastime activity. The officials from the wildlife department paid for protecting wildlife are either active facilitators of wildlife hunting or find themselves helpless against the hunter who is occupying the power corridor or those having backing from the powers that be. Some tribal chieftains majority of whom are ensconced by the parliament are seen posing behind killed deer, ibex and other kinds of threatened wildlife and their photos are seen circulated on social media but no action is taken. Thus when chosen representatives, officialdom etc took lead and feel proud of shooting wildlife then this trend trickles down and is being emulated by lower strata of society as a symbol of pride.
However vigilant local community and civil society including media from Thar in particular and from other parts of Sindh in general deserve kudos for standing up and resisting the powerful to protect the ever-decreasing population of wildlife. The wildlife heroes like the late Nazim Jokhi who resisted the local powerful facilitators of Arab hunters and laid his life for the protection of Hubara and other wildlife as well as young Ajeet Singh are proud heroes who should be celebrated and protected from the backlash of powerful horrid hunters
GULSHER PANHWER,
Johi.