Leaders show the way and the followers follow them. Unfortunately, the majority of the leaders in India lack empathy toward dogs. Rather many are hostile towards them.
Recently the Punjab chief minister ordered to ban government employees from keeping pet dogs in govt accommodations. The Punjab Government had asked the Police officers residing in Government bungalows and quarters to move their dogs out within a week. Thankfully the Chief Minister withdrew his most hostile, mindless and inhumane order after the PFA Founder Maneka Gandhi intervened.
https://www.opindia.com/2022/05/punjab-aap-bhagwant-mann-bans-pet-dogs-govt-residences/amp/
Nothing can be more foolish than this order. Already there is a huge population of stray dogs in Punjab. Just imagine if all govt employees who have pet dogs were to abandon their pets. What would have happened????
A video of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has gone viral where he is saying that all the street animals shall be removed. He said the municipal corporation has failed in its duty of removing the stray cattle and dogs from the roads of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, he also said that the pet owners should ensure cleanliness on the roads, and registration and vaccination of their pets. The municipal corporation has definitely failed in its duty but it has failed in getting the dogs sterilized and vaccinated. The video clearly shows the ignorance of the CM about the ABC program and dog rules 2001. The stray dogs cannot be removed. The municipal corporations have been entrusted with getting the dogs spayed and neutered which they are not doing in a humane and systematic manner.
A devotee of Lord Shiva went with his pet dog to one of the holiest shrines Kedarnath. All that the good man did was made his dog touch the statue of Nandi (it is the bull who is the closest companion of Lord Shiva). The priest too blessed the dog by smearing a Tilak on the forehead of the dog. Kindly watch the pious man, his blessed dog and the holy priest of Kedarnath temple in the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/Sunny4ghosh/videos/1026580731562692/
Soon after the temple committee of Kedarnath demanded stern action against the pet owner. The committee’s CEO lodged an FIR at the behest of the committee president. They have found the dog touching the Nandi statue objectionable.
The priest who smeared Tilak on the dog didn’t find the dog and his touching Nandi objectionable. Rather he happily blessed the dog.
For all those who found the presence of dogs objectionable need to be reminded that Lord Shiva is also called Pashupatinath. The lord of animals. He makes no difference between humans and animals. And every Hindu who proudly calls himself a Hindu should know that Hinduism is a way of life. A way of life which teaches us to respect and protect our environment. Animals, mountains and rivers are revered in this religion. Unfortunately, Hinduism is losing its essence and is now being confined to only idol worship.
Many Hindus who are devotees of Lord Shiva and love and respect all animals on this earth have condemned the FIR. The abode of Lord Shiva is open to all. He makes no difference between Nawab ( the blessed dog ) and his owner Rohan ( the devotee of Lord Shiva). Rohan and Nawab are being supported by them.
Rohan is a true devotee of Shiva and Hinduism is sustained because of people like him. No one at Kedarnath objected to Nawab’s presence and his touching the idol of Nandi. It was only after Rohan made the Nawab’s video viral that all this controversy started.
Update on the case 25th May 2022 – Rohan has been interviewed by several news channels. In all the interviews Rohan is saying that Nawab is like his son and he has taken him to most of the religious places. And never have they encountered any problem. Rather Nawab has always been welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately this time they are being criticized and receiving threatening calls.
https://www.facebook.com/aajtak/videos/3243503075885356/
This FIR is a reflection of hypocrisy in Hinduism. The people who cannot see God beyond idols. Who cannot see the devotion of Rohan who walked 16 kilometres with his dog uphill to the shrine? The 16 kilometre trek is quite difficult and it’s takes a lot of devotion and courage to walk the trek. There is a helicopter service too but many devotees prefer to go on foot even though they can easily afford the helicopter ride to the shrine.
The Chief Minister of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and the committee members of Kedarnath temple seem to.be ignorant about dog cruelties in India or they have deliberately chosen to be blind, deaf and dumb. It’s time they open their eyes to the atrocities which the companion of Lord Bhairav goes through on a regular basis.
Dog atrocities:
1) A dog was badly beaten up leaving her half paralyzed. Kindly go on the following link to watch her pain and agony:
2) A young boy just for fun caught hold of a dog from his tail and then swirled him in the air several times before throwing him to the ground. Watch the video to see the trauma and pain of the innocent dog and the joy of his tormentor.
https://www.facebook.com/sumitadey.sumitadey.3/videos/314455664172009/
3) two dogs were badly beaten up and then relocated. One of them.was a pregnant dog and another was a small dog. The people who brutally beat the dogs up and then threw them away from their society did it because they don’t like dogs sitting on the road. The culprits seem to be well connected with a politician of the ruling govt. Such politicians should be ousted from the party. No one is above the law and every Indian should know it. We cannot make a strong and corrupt free India until we have such politicians ruling us. Kindly go on the link below to watch the shameless relatives who are boasting about their political connection. They have no respect for law.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/376516153177730/permalink/1210401079789229/
4) Kali a mother dog was killed brutally in Mumbai. Her two babies have no one to care for now. The reporter is trying to find a home for them.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/376516153177730/permalink/1213304206165583/
5) Most of the leaders running the govt see only dog poop on the roads and they fail to see the cruelty against dogs and the harassment and humiliation the dog feeders and pet owners go through on a regular basis. To watch caregivers being harassed for feeding the dogs and the poor dogs being beaten in Bangalore kindly go on the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/376516153177730/permalink/1213153942847276/
The municipal corporation is the biggest villain and the mayors and councillors who majorly run the corporations are responsible for dog cruelty in India. They terribly lack wisdom and foresight. All that matters to them is human votes and winning the elections. A tragic case of dog catching has come from port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Island. Here the municipal workers have crossed all limits. They have caught small pups, lactating mothers, old dogs, sick dogs in the most brutal manner. It doesn’t seem from the report that they have any intentions of getting the dogs back. Kindly go on the link below to see the bad deeds of the corporation of Port Blair.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/376516153177730/permalink/1203570763805594/
We can see that right from north (Kedarnath) to South (Port Blair) of India there is only intolerance towards the man’s best friend and their caregivers and owners are finding all this very hard to cope up with.
When will our leaders realize that the main problem is the negative mind set of Indians towards dogs.
People need to be sensitized both towards dogs as well as animal laws. But before sensitizing people of India its leaders have to be sensitized. The leaders should know that ABC program.is the only ethical and legal way to curb stray dog population. And we cannot encourage adoption of stray dogs by passing orders like banning pet dogs from.govt accommodation and penalizing the pet owners for getting the dogs to holy shrines.
Hiranmay Karlekar