Islamabad: People in Tharparkar in Pakistan’s Sindh, buried eight carcasses of an endangered species of deer and performed their burial rites in a rare show of solidarity and affection.
The rites performed were like people do in the event of death in the family, offered condolences and prayed for the departed souls.
According to details, five hunters in the Chelhar wildlife sanctuary of District Tharparkar, Sindh, had hunted these deer. However, they could not make away with their carcasses as local villages, particularly, a Hindu youth Utam Singh Rajput intercepted them. He along with other villagers went after them and forced them to surrender. Two of the five hunters managed to escape while the remaining three were arrested.
Special place for animals
According to the Human Rights activist Kapil Dev who hails from the same area, animals, particularly, deer enjoy a special status and locals consider them as members of their family.
The brutal killing of deer has made everyone, the Hindus and the Muslims, sad and the local people have allocated land for a separate graveyard of deer.
“This is symbolically a powerful message for conservation of biodiversity and nature. I don’t see any such example happening before,” Kapil Dev said in a tweet.
Utam Singh and local villages not only forced the hunters to release the bodies of the deer, they also got them arrested, he said.
Minister takes notice, suspends officials
Sindh Minister for Local Government, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah took notice of the incident and suspended four officials of the wildlife department, including deputy conservative officer Riaz Rind, for their failure to protect the rare species even in a wildlife sanctuary.
Earlier, the villagers carrying carcasses of the hunted deer also staged a demonstration at Kashmir Chowk in Mithi where members of the civil society and rights activists also joined them.
The protesters demanded arrest of all the hunters involved in the incident. A First Information Report (FIR) under the Anti-Terrorism Act was also registered to stop such incidents in future.
The hunters also opened fire on Utam and other villagers when they chased the hunters, though none was hurt.
Hindus, Muslims join hands to condemn deer’s killing
Meanwhile, the members of the civil society, lawyers, rights activists speaking to the media deplored the fact that there was still hunting going on in a wildlife sanctuary.
They stressed the need to amend the laws of wildlife department in Sindh so that hunters and poachers in areas like Thar could be given severe punishments since the existing laws had many loopholes, which benefited hunters and poachers.
On the other hand, the members of the Thar Bar Association announced that they would not plead the case of the hunters, saying that they would never help anyone who were involved in such incidents and against the natural beauty of Tharparkar.
