While many people have seen the elephant’s death as a signal to pass legislation to protect wildlife, the incident also spurred a terrifying hate campaign against Muslims.
APOORVA VERGHESE: On May 27, a pregnant elephant died in the South Indian state of Kerala. The manner of the elephant’s death is not certain—officials believe she was either fed or accidentally consumed a pineapple filled with explosives. Farmers often employ fruit packed with explosives around forests, as a trap to prevent wild animals from destroying their crops. The elephant walked around for days after getting hurt by the explosion in her mouth, unable to eat and in pain, before dying in a river in Kerala’s Palakkad district. The incident led to outrage, especially from animal rights activists who claimed that the elephant’s death was part of a larger pattern of animal cruelty in India.
While many people have seen the elephant’s death as a signal to pass legislation to protect wildlife, the incident also spurred a terrifying hate campaign led by Hindu nationalists. When the elephant’s death was first reported, Maneka Gandhi, a prominent animal rights activist, member of parliament and former Union Minister of the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, lied that the attack on the elephant happened in the Malappuram district of Kerala rather than Palakkad. Malappuram, a district approximately 52 miles away from Palakkad, happens to have a 70% population of Muslim people. In an interview with ANI News, Gandhi called Malappuram India’s “most violent district”, although this was also proven false…
Gandhi’s statement came before any location had been specified by the Kerala government. When Kerala’s Wildlife Warden later issued a statement clarifying that the elephant had died in Palakkad, Gandhi did not retract her statement or apologize for her remarks. So with no official evidence to support her claim, why did Gandhi publicly make and maintain this statement? Why did she choose to lie? The BJP has a long history of violent discrimination against Muslims that has led to numerous attacks and lynchings of Muslims across the country…
Gandhi effectively mobilized social media support for her hate campaign. She spread lies and misinformation, and successfully built resentment against Muslims and the Kerala government. Gandhi’s intention was never to simply condemn animal cruelty. It was to perpetuate a dangerous narrative about Muslims in India in an effort to push her party’s hateful political agenda. It is a true tragedy that this elephant died such a horrific death and that her calf was killed with her. The weaponizing of fruit filled with explosives is illegal and a major perpetuation of animal cruelty in India. SOURCE…
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