Dear Shri Madan Mohan Pant,
I have had the opportunity to read and apply thought to your mail to Shri Prakash Javedekar, the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Your e mail reproduced in toto below, should leave anyone with a modicum of sanity and integrity, alarmed and petrified. And I am not even referring to your servile, obsequious salutations, which eulogise an unfit man who occupies a key ministry in this unfortunate country. That, sir, is a distinctly Indian trait imbued as lineage in venal underlings.I refer instead, to the dangerous advisers and supporters the minister seems to attract. That’s serious enough, but ministers (their destructiveness notwithstanding) come and go. The fear of this country’s citizens lies in the fact that both ends of the equation are compromised to the core and outdo each other in inverse logic.Even though you seem to have no sense of it, allow me to show you the truth :
1.Imbued with a sense of hubris which afflicts all in power, coupled with an immature eagerness to earn the prime minister’s grades on development, and compounded by an innate lack of knowledge, understanding, sensitivity or integrity, the visionary minister has set-out a woeful course for India. You hail him as “Bold” and “Righteous”. “Bold”, most certainly ; all those who cross the Rubicon are. For the love of God, I fail to see any remotely “Righteous” quality in this man. Not even if I imagine very hard. What I see instead, is a blighted view of one who knows little of the responsibility he is (most unfortunately) entrusted with, and understands even less. If anything, he is busy subverting, undermining, destroying official organs he presides over. He gives away approvals as a joke : refer to the recent Ken-Betwa case where even before the sham of a committee met, the “Bold” minister cleared the project which further decimates whatever little we have left of Bharat. The role of bureaucrats, advisors, experts, has traditionally been a hallowed one. They have offered sage counsel, ensured that the ruler stayed the course, brought sagacity and wisdom into governance. That evaporated long ago. What we have instead (with meagre exceptions) is sub-optimal side-kicks who fail every yardstick except that of crookedness and guile.
2.Your digital signature in an out-sized font, made bold and its shoddy, shabby, grammatically incorrect allusions, reveal the sort of man you are. The sort who knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing. It also reveals that you feed off vestiges of mid-level erstwhile positions held in Government (otherwise you would have flaunted rank as well). It is most ironical that you flaunt a mindless phrase “Go Green or Perish” while spinning your canards, lies, evil agenda and lust for blood. The fact that men such as you advise Shri Javedekar, and are entitled “Member – National Board of Wildlife” explain why this minister does what he does and gets away with it.
Incensed and alarmed as I am with your pathetic little e-mail to your lord and master, I do not mean this to be a rant. It cannot be limited to that. Consider the following :
i) “…to cull the exponentially rising population of wild denizens that have been becoming a menace to the people since the transfer of the portfolio of “forests” and “protection of wild animals and birds” from the State List to the Concurrent List through 42nd Ammedment to the Indian Constitution in 1976. Indeed, the 42nd Ammendment had been the biggest blunder for the sustainable governance of the forests and wildlife resources of the country…” (the bold text is yours)
-I am sure you understand that populations are dynamic. They rise and they fall. Consider the overwhelming rise in this country’s human population which has spawned its eventual destruction. (You have made a fair and dangerous contribution to the increase by producing whatever you have). At the root of all our problems is India’s exponentially rising population. Wild animal population on the contrary, has actually declined. And declined not only steeply, but very alarmingly. I know the reports and surveys are unreliable as well as doctored. But even they reveal this. The wild denizens you talk of should be identified as the average Indian desiring everything while deserving nothing.
You are ruing the fact that wildlife is on the Concurrent list, perhaps because it cramps, a wee bit but it does, a free run to killers like you. We do know that you have personally killed wildlife with impunity. And despite your advanced years, still may do. People of your severely limited thought see forests and non-humans as personal wealth. Everything must be property. Everything must be managed/governed/owned. Everything exists for pleasure or profit. This is not only a morally and spiritually evil credo, it also reflects a complete lack of respect for Nature or the Universal Covenant of Life.
ii) “as a forest officer of the UP cadre since 1959, I have personally dealt with this problem…”
-1959, sir, was 57 years ago. I imagine you would be well into your 60s now. The odometer of traction on earth, the opportunity to be amidst nature and birth in a Brahmin family in a state known for natural bounty and a country known (thus far) for its civilizational value of respect for all life, have collectively failed to imbue sense or sensibility. Ecocide instead, is your belief and your legacy. Your detrimental impact is compounded by the scraps of post-retirement positions you have/will wrangle and the poison you undoubtedly spread in the community you live in. I lament the fates of non-human beings around and/or touched by you.
iii)My understanding of your mind and practice is vindicated by your utterance “…was good business…” and “No one, repeat, no one, had any objection whatsoever to this…” (your underlined emphasis) to trapping, torturing, shipping, again torturing monkeys. I suspect that even as you write this drivel, you go to the local Hanuman temple. What a forked mind. A typical two-faced Hindu character the British held in disdain.Unsurprisingly, you drop names of a fellow culprit, a Mahesh Prasad, who accompanied you and sanctioned killing elephants as well as “proper disposal of the carcass”.
It does not take a questionable degree from Michigan, Ann Arbour or a Ph D to understand the following, it takes commonsense and truth :
a)The root cause of all man-animal conflict, is man. Animals have co-existed with us since the dawn of time. A co-existence celebrated in Indian religion, culture, tradition, way of life. All of our gods and goddesses, all of our scriptures, all of our art, all of our literature is replete with this spirit of co-opting nature. This value, aberrations like the incumbent minister, you and his minions notwithstanding.
b)Mass murder of animals after mass destruction of forests is a path to disaster. And let me assure you that whilst your Kumaoni staple of rice may have become more variegated with other cereals, you will never eat currency notes. No one can.
c)Nature never tolerates imbalance and climate change is upon us. The very man who should be seized with this as minister, and the very courtiers cloaked as experts who surround him, are hastening climate change by fostering ecocide, mass murder of forests, animals, birds.
Killing animals is easy. They have no voice, no vote. they do not plot, do not plan. Are not vicious or malicious. Not greedy nor evil. These, alas, are uniquely human attributes. The long history of India is recognized by character and continuity, discordant notes do not last long. Not everyone will be an accomplice to this injustice. I do not know you or your master. I have never seen either of you and bear you both no ill will, nor hatred. To me, you are mere entities, agents of harm to this country. You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You take lies for truth and hideousness for beauty. You sport a Brahmin surname and therefore I suspect are mired (to a degree) in what your twist interprets as the tradition of our shared faith. Let me leave you, Shri Madan Mohan Pant, with what the great sage Markandeya in the Mahabharata identifies as some attributes of the Kali Age :
“Rulers will become unreasonable. They will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, justice, compassion, and will become a danger to the worlds. Avarice and wrath will be common…Dharma will progressively disappear…”
You and your Mahesh Prasad were young killers of defenceless animals in pristine forests in 1959 before you clawed your way up. This, however, is not 1959 ; this is 2016. Prakash Javedekar is no absolute despot ruling over a country of pliable fools. And you are neither expert nor credible. Both of you will be challenged, fought and defeated. You cannot be allowed to prevail simply because this country’s forests and animals are not your fief and because you represent everything which must be vanquished. It will be a good fight. The kind well worth fighting.
Sincerely,
Amit Chaudhery
Citizen of India
P.S. : Ironical (like much else) that your house is christened ‘Anandi’ What anand can there be for an advocate of mass murder ? No peace, let alone anand. Both rest in compassion.
—
Amit Chaudhery
–Journalist, Naturalist & Activist
-President, People For Animals-Gurgaon
-Honorary Animal Welfare Officer (HAWO), Animal Welfare Board of India
-Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, Nominee to IAECs
-Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, Nominee to IAECs
Subject: THANKS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR YOUR BOLD AND RIGHTEOUS ACTION – WELL DONE SIR
Reply-To: Madan Mohan Pant
Hon Prakash Javadekar<pjaxxxxxx@gmail.com>; Hon Prakash Javadekar ; Hon Prakash Javadekar;Dehra Dun Dated 10th June 2016Subject: THANKS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR YOUR BOLD AND RIGHTEOUS ACTION – WELL DONE SIREsteemed Shree Prakash Javadekar Jee, Honourable Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change,Saadar Nameshkar.Heartiest congratulations to you for permitting the state governments to cull the exponentially rising population of wild denizens that have been becoming a menace to the people since the transfer of the portfolio of “forests” and “protection of wild animals and birds” from the ‘State List to the Concurrent List’ through 42nd amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1976. Indeed, 42nd amendment had been the biggest blunder for the sustainable governance of the forests and wildlife resources of the country. Let me fast forward and come to the point.2. As a forest officer of the UP cadre since 1959, I have personally dealt with this problem according to legislation inherited from the British days and amended from time to time. The list of vermins was amended by the Chief Wildlife Warden – a senor DFO/Conservator – in consultations with the villagers/farmers from time to time.3. The monkeys (rhesus monkey) and feral were sold as lots in the annual auctions of forest produce: timber, bamboo, MFP, and other produce. Export of Rhesus monkeys was a good business till 1978 – it provided valuable medical research, income, employment, besides controlling the monkey menace.No one, repeats no one, had any objection, whatsoever to this!4. Vermins like wild bores, porcupine, lomree, Neel Gai (Boselaphus Tragocamelus Pul) – which is neither blue in colour nor a cow but is a big deer – were routinely destroyed and permits were freely (without any fee) given to destroy them. But then, we had a large Range staff to see that no other wild denizens are killed by the permit holders. I personally ensured this by staying in the forests for at least 180 days and 120 nights a year.5. The culling of elephants was done according to the Elephant protection Act by the DM in consultation with the DFO (who was then regarded as the DM of the forests). We had to ensure the use of heavy bore rifles and proper disposal of the elephant carcass. We (me and Mr Mahesh Prasad, IAS – then DM Pauri who later was Secretary GOI) did it in the Lansdowne Forest Division (all areas on the left bank of River Ganga in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Laxma Jhula, etc., up to Kotdwara and beyond.PRAYERPlease notify transfer of this entire responsibility of declaring and destroying the vermins to the State and UT governments asap for the apolitical, professional and scientific management of the wildlife. Why not??With profoundest regards,In Peoples’s Service.Humbly and apolitically Yours.Dr. Madan Mohan Pant, IFS (Retd)A.I.F.C; M.F; PhD (The University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA)Natural Resources EconomistA former Director of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy & FAO ExpertPresently: Member of National Board for Wild LifeRes: “Anandi”, 191/2 Vasant Vihar, Dehradun- 248006Tel: 0135 2763260; Mob: +91 8979109440“GO GREEN OR PERISH”