Mumbai:
The controversial Maharashtra Minister of State Education Fauzia Khan has come in for sharp criticism from animal protection organisations in India for posing with a rifle next to wild animal carcasses holding a weapon in South Africa.
A week after the local papers published and aired the photographs of the minister with a rifle in hand along with carcasses of animals such as springbok, black wild beast, black buck and zebra, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) – a federal body of animal -protection organisations in the country --hit out at Fauzia for violating her constitutional obligation as a minister.
The published photographs had been taken during Fauzia’s recent holiday tour to South Africa along with her family members.
The FIAPO stated in its statement that Fauzia had forgotten her fundamental constitutional duty as laid down under Part IV A of the Indian Constitution.
Fauzia said that the minister had violated the fundamental duties of every citizen of India as described in the Constitution of India under Article 51 A, that “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India …to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures” ..
Following the public outcry over the publication in local papers of the images of her holding a weapon and posing next to dead animal carcasses, the animal protection organisations represented by FIAPO had written a strong letter to the minister, reminding her of her constitutional oath to uphold the tenets of the Constitution of India while in office and also of following her fundamental duties as a citizen of India.
In response to the controversy, the minister had said: “First of all, I didn’t kill the animals; they were killed by professionals. I just posed near their bodies. Hunting is legal in South Africa….We (my family) are all animal lovers and we love the wildlife,” she had said.
The minister’s defence that she did not kill the animals in the photographs and that it was not illegal to hunt them in South Africa, had no impact on the demand of the organisations, a FIAPO spokesperson said,
“We have demanded that the Minister tender a public apology for her actions. She has sent a very wrong message to the youth of India who are directly influenced by her office as Minister of Education, by condoning the killing of defenseless wild animals,” the statement said.
“We have recommended that she reevaluate her response to this issue and instead focus on developing Humane Education modules with the assistance of animal protection organisations for state schools, and spread the message of compassion and care for all living creatures as is stated in our Constitution,” the FIAPO statement said.
