Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has demanded to reconsider the relaxations given in the country’s wildlife protection laws. He expressed deep concern over the loopholes in the laws that could encourage illegal hunting of the national bird, the peacock. Appealing to the people, he said that the peacock also has the right to live, and it should also get a chance to live.
During an event in New Delhi on Thursday, Maneka Gandhi criticized the existing rules and said that they encourage commercial use of peacock feathers. He described environmental protection, animal welfare and social responsibility as interconnected issues and said that these are “different forms of the same thinking”.
Many unintended consequences of legal exemption: Maneka
The former Union minister traced the issue to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, which allowed Jain monks of the Digambara sect to use peacock feathers for ‘picchi’ (a small brush made from fallen peacock feathers). However, he also cautioned that this relaxation has also had many unintended consequences.
Maneka Gandhi said, “That exemption was given. But once the door opened, a whole industry arose around it.” He said that it was wrong to say that peacock feathers are naturally available in large quantities to meet the market demand. He said that commercial demand directly encouraged poaching.
Failed attempt to change the law
Talking about the change in the rule, Maneka said that during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she had tried to get a legal amendment done to remove this deficiency, but that proposal could not move forward. He also said that his criticism is not about any particular community, but about how some exemptions provided by the law can be misused.
Responding to the protests and legal notices from Jain groups, Maneka Gandhi stood her ground and cited examples of other traditional practices challenged on the grounds of animal welfare. The BJP leader mentioned an incident in Malappuram, Kerala during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which explosives were kept hidden inside fruits and then elephants got injured due to this. He expressed disappointment and said, “When the elephants used to eat those fruits, their jaws would break due to the explosions inside the mouth.” On this he said, “This is our custom.” Is it our tradition to plant bombs and break the jaws of animals?”
Changes in the system towards animals: Maneka
Maneka Gandhi, a longtime animal rights activist, argued that social mores must change and compared changes in animal rights to historical changes in human rights, such as women’s right to vote. He said, “When the issue of women’s voting rights was raised, it was not customary for them to vote, but that system changed.”
Referring to the ongoing legal action against evil practices like animal sacrifice, Maneka Gandhi requested critics to think about the wider impact on the environment instead of reacting in anger. Concluding his speech, he said, “Aam, get angry at me as much as you want, but just stop and think for 10 minutes.” He pleaded once again for the peacock’s welfare, “That peacock should get a chance to live; otherwise, it will neither be able to get up nor fly. So, why not give it a chance?”
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