Showing posts with label farmers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farmers. Show all posts

Thursday, June 9, 2016

शिकारी की संवेदनशीलता



किसानों के उजड़ते खेत 
शिकारी देख न पाया -
ढाई-सौ नील गायों को उसने 
अपनी बन्दूक से उड़ाया 


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This poem is in response to the culling of  Neelgais in Bihar after government approval. The blue bull is the largest antelope in Asia and considered a native of India, and has been ravaging crops and farms in the state of Bihar since long. What other options were available to the government? Did the Environment Department work on other options in the past, given the fact that Neelgais had been wrecking havoc since a long time? Is the sudden massive killing (culling) of the animal ethical? I don't have answers to these questions. Farmers' lives depend on their harvest. Their demand for relief is fair and urgent. But was this the only way out?

Blue Bull or Nilgai is the state animal of Haryana, my native state. This is a fact I discovered today while reading about them.