തെരുവു നായ്ക്കളെ സ്നേഹിച്ച് സായൂജ്യം തേടുന്ന മനുഷ്യ ദ്രോഹികള്‍!

മനുഷ്യനും മൃഗവും തമ്മില്‍ പലകാര്യങ്ങളില്‍ സാമ്യം കാണാന്‍ കഴിയും. മനുഷ്യന്‍ മൃഗ തുല്യന്‍ ആയി വരാമെങ്കിലും മൃഗം ഒരിക്കലും മനുഷ്യ തുല്യന്‍ ആകില്ല. അവിടെ ആണ് മനുഷ്യനും മൃഗവും തമ്മിലുള്ള വ്യത്യാസം പ്രകടമാകുന്നത്.

ചിന്താശക്തിയും ദൈവിക ബോധവുമുള്ള മനുഷ്യന്‍ ശരീര പ്രകൃതികൊണ്ട്  ചില മൃഗങ്ങളെ പോലെ ഒക്കെ ആയിരിക്കുന്നത് മൂലം മനുഷ്യനും മൃഗവും തുല്യര്‍ തന്നെ എന്ന് ചില ബോധ വൈകല്യമുള്ള മനുഷ്യര്‍ പറയാന്‍ ഇടയുണ്ട്. എന്നാല്‍ അത് അവരുടെ ബുദ്ധി വൈകല്യത്തിന്റെ ഒരു അനന്തര ഫലം  മാത്രം എന്ന് ബുദ്ധിഭ്രമം ഇല്ലാത്ത സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യര്‍ മനസ്സിലാക്കി പ്രതികരിക്കാതെ ഇരുന്നിരുന്നു.

തെരുവിനെ സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്ന ഇന്ത്യയുടെ അഭിമാനമായ നായ്ക്കള്‍!

(കേന്ദ്ര മന്ത്രി മേനക ഗാന്ധി -വാര്‍ത്ത വായിക്കുക!)

എന്നാല്‍ ഭോഷികളുടെ അഭിപ്രായങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് പ്രതികരിക്കാത്ത സാദാ മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്ക്‌ ആ നിസംഗത ഇപ്പോള്‍ വിനയായിരിക്കുന്നു.

സമൂഹത്തില്‍ ഭോഷികള്‍ കൂടി വരുന്ന അവസ്ഥാ വിശേഷം സംജാതമായിരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് വേണം കരുതാന്‍. ഇത് മനുഷ്യ കുലത്തിനു വിനയാകും എന്ന്  ചിന്താ ശേഷി നഷ്ടമായിട്ടില്ലാത്തവര്‍ക്ക് സ്വല്പം ആലോചിച്ചാല്‍ പിടികിട്ടാത്ത കാര്യമല്ല.

ഭോഷികളുടെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തികളും അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളും അവര്‍ പ്രതികരിക്കാത്ത സമൂഹത്തിനു മേല്‍ അടിച്ചേല്‍പ്പിച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കയാണിപ്പോള്‍. ഇന്ന് നടക്കുന്ന പലതും അതാണ്‌ സൂചിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്.

പലതും നിസാരമെന്നു തോന്നാവുന്ന കാര്യങ്ങള്‍. എന്നാല്‍ ഭവിഷ്യത്തുകള്‍ നിസാരമല്ല താനും.

കേരളത്തില്‍ ഇന്ന് വര്‍ധിച്ചു വരുന്ന തെരുവു നായ ശല്യം തന്നെ എടുക്കുക. കേരളത്തില്‍ മാത്രമല്ല ഇന്ത്യ ഒട്ടാകെ തെരുവു നായകളെ കൊണ്ട് നിറഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്നു. ഈ നായകരില്ലാത്ത നായകള്‍ അപ്രതീക്ഷ സമയത്ത് നിസഹായ മനുഷ്യരുടെയും മറ്റു വളര്‍ത്തു മൃഗങ്ങളുടെയും മേല്‍ ആക്രമണം നടത്തുന്നു. പിടി പെട്ടാല്‍ ദാരുണ മരണം ഉറപ്പായ പേപ്പട്ടി വിഷ ബാധ പെരുകുന്നു. പേപ്പട്ടി വിഷ പ്രതിരോധ മരുന്ന് കമ്പനികള്‍ മരുന്നിന്റെ വില വര്‍ധിപ്പിച്ചു കോടികള്‍ ലാഭം ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്നു. അവരില്‍ നിന്നും കോഴ കിട്ടാന്‍ വഴിയുള്ള ചിലര്‍ക്ക് തെരുവു നായ സ്നേഹം പണ്ടത്തെക്കാള്‍ പല മടങ്ങ്‌ വര്‍ദ്ധിക്കുന്നു.

ഈ അവസ്ഥ വന്നാലത്തെ സ്ഥിതി ഒന്നാലോചിക്കൂ! 

[ചിത്രം അഴിമുഖം ഡോട്ട് കോം ലേഖനത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്. 
ലേഖനം വായിക്കാന്‍ ചിത്രത്തില്‍ ക്ലിക്ക്‌ ചെയ്യുക!]

അപ്പോള്‍ തെരുവു നായകളുടെ കടി പിടിയെക്കാള്‍ വലിയ ഒരു കടി പിടി മനുഷ്യരുടെ ഇടയിലും സംജാതമാകുന്ന കാഴ്ച കണ്ടു സാധാരണ ജനങ്ങള്‍ അന്തം വിടുന്നു. തെരുവു നായകളെ നശിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു പഞ്ചായത്ത് അധികൃതര്‍ ശ്രമിക്കുന്നു. അപ്പോള്‍ അതാ  കേരള പോലീസ് പാഞ്ഞെത്തുന്നു- പഞ്ചായത്ത് അധികൃതര്‍ക്ക്‌ സംരക്ഷണം കൊടുക്കാനല്ല, പിന്നെയോ, പഞ്ചായത്ത് മേധാവിയെ പിടിച്ചു ജയിലില്‍ ഇടാന്‍- ഇന്ത്യയിലെ മൃഗ സംരക്ഷണ നിയമ ലംഘനത്തിന്റെ പേരും പറഞ്ഞ്!

തെരുവു നായ ശല്യത്തില്‍ രോഷം പരസ്യമായി പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന  ഒരു മലയാളി വ്യവസായി-

ശ്രീ കൊച്ചൌസേഫ് ചിട്ടിലപ്പിള്ളി! [വാര്‍ത്തയ്ക്ക് പടം ക്ലിക്ക്‌ ചെയ്യുക!] 

കോടതികളും  തേരാ പാരാ വിധി ന്യായങ്ങള്‍ എഴുതി വിടുന്നു. ഒന്ന് ഒന്നിനെതിരെ എന്ന് മാത്രം. കോടതി വിധികള്‍ എടുത്തു കാട്ടി മന്ത്രിമാര്‍ കൈ മലര്‍ത്തി നില്‍ക്കുന്ന കാഴ്ച കണ്ടു ജനം സ്വന്തം വിധിയെ ഓര്‍ത്തു തലയില്‍ കൈ വച്ച് കരയാനും ചിരിക്കാനും പറ്റാത്ത അവസ്ഥയില്‍ എത്തി നില്‍ക്കുന്നു. 

ചിന്താശേഷിയുള്ള മലയാള സിനിമാ നായകന്‍ 

മോഹന്‍ലാലിന്റെ പ്രതികരണം 'കടിക്കുന്ന പട്ടിയെ പോറ്റുന്നവര്‍' ആദ്യ പേജ് മുകളില്‍!
പൂര്‍ണ്ണ രൂപം വായിക്കാന്‍  അതില്‍ ക്ലിക്ക്‌ ചെയ്യുക!

ആര്‍ഷ സംസ്കാരമേ! കേരള ജനമേ! എന്ത് പറ്റി? പട്ടികള്‍ കടിച്ചാലും വേദന അറിയാത്ത നിലയിലേക്ക് ശരീരത്തിലും മനസിലും കുഷ്ഠരോഗം പിടിപെട്ടോ? 

ഇതൊക്കെ ഈ നിലയില്‍ എത്തിച്ച ചില മനുഷ്യ കുല ദ്രോഹികള്‍ അവിടവിടെയായി ഇപ്പോള്‍ ചിരിച്ചു രസിക്കുന്നുണ്ട് എന്നോര്‍ക്കണം. അവരെ കാര്യം അറിയാതെ പിന്താങ്ങി ഗോഗ്വാ വിളിക്കുന്ന പല ഭോഷികളും അങ്ങും ഇങ്ങും ഉണ്ടെന്നും ഓര്‍ക്കണം.

ഈ അവസ്ഥയ്ക്ക് എന്താണൊരു പരിഹാരം? ഭോഷരും അഭോഷരും ഒക്കെ ചേര്‍ന്ന് നിയമ വ്യവസ്ഥയെ കെട്ടഴിക്കാന്‍ പറ്റാത്ത ഒരു ഊരാ കുടുക്കാക്കി വച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ദേശത്തു നേരെ വാ നേരെ പോ എന്നാ രീതിയില്‍ ഇതില്‍ നിന്നും പരിഹാരം പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്നതു മറ്റൊരു മണ്ടത്തരം ആകാനാണ് സാധ്യത കൂടുതല്‍. 

എന്നാല്‍ കേരളത്തിലെ ജനങ്ങള്‍ ബുദ്ധിപരമായി ഇങ്ങനുള്ള പ്രശ്നങ്ങളെ നേരിടണം. ഭോഷികളുടെ ഗോഗ്വ വിളി കേട്ട് നിന്നാല്‍ അങ്ങനെ നില്‍ക്കയെ ഉള്ളൂ. അവരുടെ അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളും മാനിച്ചു നിന്നാല്‍ ഒന്നിനും ഒരു പരിഹാരം കാണാന്‍ കഴിയില്ല. ഉച്ചത്തില്‍ കൂവി വിളിക്കുന്നത്‌ എപ്പോഴും വിവരദോഷികള്‍ ആണെന്നും മറക്കാതിരുന്നാല്‍ എല്ലാവര്ക്കും ഗുണമാകും! വലിയ വായില്‍ കൂവി വിളിക്കുന്ന അല്പസംഖ്യരുടെ കൂടെ പോയാല്‍ അന്തിമ പരാജയം എന്ന് ഓര്‍ക്കുന്നതും ചിലര്‍ക്കൊക്കെ ഗുണമാകും!

എന്നാലും ഈ നിലയില്‍ കാര്യങ്ങളെ എത്തിച്ച ഭരണ കൌശലത്തിനു കൈയടി കൊടുക്കണോ  എന്ന ആലോചനയില്‍ എന്റെ ബുദ്ധി കെട്ടുപോയിരിക്കുന്നു!

[This is a Malayalam language blog article about the stray dog menace of India, especially Kerala that has become a serious problem for the people due to the administrative complications arising out of many contradictory and conflicting laws coupled with too many vested interests! What should be the limit for our stray dog love?]

Does Your Stray Dog Love Threatening Your Own Existence?

Stray dogs are becoming a big health hazard for the common people of India in the recent years. Their population is increasing geometrically as the time passes.

Dogs are the first among to get domesticated by the humans. Dogs as we encounter now are no more wild animals. They have the most desirable qualities among animals to be loved and cared by people. They are too loyal to their masters. Under normal circumstances they do no harm to the people who become friendly with them and take care of them.

Stray dogs are the breeds that have no specific human masters. Some irresponsible humans are the real cause for stray dogs. Domesticated dogs become stray when the human owners discard them and no more take care of them.

Some people do feed dogs and allow them to multiply. But they do not like to take the responsibility of keeping these animals well disciplined and trained under them. The neglected dogs escape to the streets to become stray dogs with no individual masters. When people feed them with waste food and other things, the population of these dogs increase. Since they do not have any human masters now, they slowly acquire their wild natures.

In almost all developed nations, there are rules and laws for people who keep animals like cats, dogs and the like in their residences and in their farms. The essential principle of these laws are to safeguard others from any possible threats from these animals.

So, if you are an animal keeper, you are primarily responsible for any damage or problem your pet might likely do to any other person or persons.

India too has such civic laws in place. But unfortunately, Indian laws and rules do not get implemented uniformly everywhere. It depends much on the whims and fancies of the enforcement authorities!

Some decades ago, there used to be a category of civic employees who are called 'dog catchers' whose job was to catch stray dogs within their jurisdictional areas. If there is an owner the owner used to be fined if a dog is caught wandering in public. If the dogs are found wandering as street animals, they used to be caught and destroyed by appropriate methods.

Of late, things have changed. As food security enhanced and living conditions improved among people, some intellectuals got more time to think about their animal cousins rather than their human cousins. They have become more and more compassionate to the former that they became social reformers whose efforts culminated in the enactment of laws that all of a sudden placed the animals above the humans! 

In the world today, there are more animal lovers than human lovers!

I am not implying that we should do injustice to the animals or even plants. But any law which is made without proper application of human wisdom would do more harm than good! Often our own lack of wisdom causes threats to our own lives!

How do you feel when the authority or authorities you approached for help and protection, while fully acknowledging your fears, express their inability to extent any help to you because of the existence of some idiotic rules and clauses that exist in a law that got passed by some ignorant law makers some decades ago? 

Not only you, any one in your position would feel as betrayed. Betrayed by a system that you have been thinking and hoping as one for the overall benefit of the human race that live in your part of the globe!

Some time ago I wrote a blog article in this forum titled: 

Stray Dog Menace in India-A Curse Inflicted Upon Indians By Meddling Bureaucracy, Insensitive Politicians and Pseudopetans!

Much of what I wanted to say on the growing menace of stray dogs in this country have been written in that.

I thought of writing about it again because of a breaking news item that I happen to view in one of the Malayalam News channels which reported the horror of stray dogs in some part of Kerala. The news reported groups of stray dogs killing domestic animals, attacking humans and the horror of rising rabies incidences in the recent years. A lady village panchayat president of one of the worst affected villages have been shown as expressing her inability to do any thing to kill these stray dogs because of the provisions of a national law. Yes, obviously she was referring to the infamous or famous Indian law: Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 as amended as Act 26 of 1982 and thereafter.

Anyone who kills or takes practical actions to eradicate the menace of stray dogs by killing them is likely to get arrested, punished and imprisoned by the application of certain provisions of this central law.

So, which state authority has the courage to violate such an act by taking actions to control stray dogs only to be accused as causing cruelty to animals? The law is after all above every thing and it has no eyes and ears (means it does not work on logical reasoning, but on mechanical interpretation of the statutes!)

To add to the complexities, there are growing numbers of shrewd fellows who are all willing to make any non-issue a big issue! The so-called animal lovers and human haters come in that group. I have called them the pseudo-petans. ( 'Peta' is the acronym for 'people for the ethical treatment of animals'). 

The illustrious media men and women who are compelled by their bosses to find sensational news items every day makes things worse. One day they lament the problem of stray dog menace while on the other day they shed tears for the same dogs getting starved or murdered!

In reality, there are always a group of  people who wish to come to the limelight using the modern media. They try to invoke human sentiments for various reasons including cheap publicity for achieving some larger vested interests. 

Will these Petans keep all the stray dogs in their homes? The law has caused the pet keepers to push their old, sick and unwanted animals to the streets or abandoning their pets when they are not in a position to keep and love them. If they kill their sick pets, they would be doing a serious offense. By abandoning their animals to the streets, they would be doing a lesser offense and would not be noticed. So many individual dog keepers adopt the latter method in India.

Then some other animal lovers feed these stray dogs with their waste food. Not because they love them, but because they do not have any civic authorities and facilities to dispose their wastes.

That causes the dogs to breed in the streets uncontrollably. Facing no natural threats, they keep breeding to become a nuisance to the public. When food become scarce, they attack other animals and even children. Lonely pedestrians and children become prey to these menacing canines.

The number of people bitten by stray dogs are increasing in India now. The city of Mumbai had over 82000 stray dog bite cases in 2012 and over 50% of the victims were children. The sterilization efforts of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation did not solve the stray dog menace, according to reports. Since the Maharashtra government has recently decided to  become tough with its anti cow slaughter and anti beef eating law, the Mumbai street dogs would likely feast on stray bovines in the coming days! Mumbai Petans can now rejoice and weep over this development, simultaneously!

Whether they rejoice or weep, all these things are good news for the pharmaceutical conglomerates that make the anti-rabies vaccines. The demand for these vaccines are on the rise. So also its costs. It is no longer affordable to the common people of India! One Delhi private hospital reportedly charged Rs.40,000/- for a dose of the anti-rabies vaccine!

The municipal corporation of the city where I live have recently arranged a team to catch some 20 dogs from the locality where I live. My locality in this state capital is a gated community having an area of about 0.5 square kilometers. We estimate the present population of stray dogs within this residential enclosure at about 150. 

The team performed the control measures as allowed as per the law and carefully transported those bleeding canines back and released them to the same area from where they were trapped, ensuring the so-called humane approach. Can any one be thought of so clever and efficient in trapping all the stray dogs and subject them to the legally admissible control measures? At least in this context, the stray dogs are cleverer than their human cousins!

You can well imagine the effectiveness of this legally admissible humane measure of canine control!

Some one asked me to give my suggestions also for the problems that I write in these blogs.

To them I tell this. My dear friend! I have no suggestions.

Everyone around has a better brain than me. They can find solutions if they think. I am writing these for  people to think.

Our real problem is when we refuse to think!

Stray Dog Menace in India-A Curse Inflicted Upon Indians By Meddling Bureaucracy, Insensitive Politicians and Pseudopetans!

A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine who is the habit of walking a few kilometers in the evening to keep his diabetes under control had a narrow escape when he was pounced upon by a group of viciously looking stray dogs. My friend fortunately was in the habit of walking with a baton in hand and that helped him to scare those modern day wild animals from tearing him apart. Moreover, he also got the timely help from a few security guards who manned the gates of the well guarded, walled township where he stayed.

But he told me that he got one of the biggest scare of his life that day. What would have happened had he been bitten by some of those owner-less beasts? More than becoming a customer to the anti rabies vaccine makers, his wounds would have become a chronic health hazard to this diabetic man. 

Me and my wife, too have become cautious, that we have reduced our evening and morning walks. I am scared of my office too now because of the increasing numbers of dogs that are multiplying in the well guarded complex, unchecked. During the normal working hours these beasts are no where to be seen, but in the early morning hours and late evening hours when the offices are thinly populated with people, these beasts would boldly roam around the corridors as if it belonged to them. I hear incidences of my colleagues getting some sudden dog scares when some of them got viciously cornered by these beasts when they chanced to be in the office to do some over time duty.

I have been hearing about stray dog attacks on children and adults for quite some time. There have been news about children and even adults getting fatally attacked by these beasts. There have been news about some administrative actions being taken up at the highest levels of authority in India in some states. In the place where I live, there were only a few stray dogs visible an year ago. Now they are visible in scores every where. And they are becoming ferocious and malicious waiting to attack any one at any opportunistic moment. Fortunately, no rabies yet. But that could happen at any time.

Stray dog population in the Indian cities and towns are increasing rapidly mainly due to three reasons. Firstly, the Indian city and town administrations are poorly and inefficiently managed with regard to waste disposal. Either the people concerned with this have no idea about these things or they are least concerned. This provides ample opportunities for the stray animals to find enough food for survival and multiplication. Secondly, the dogs in the cities and towns of India have no natural predators. Thirdly, there are no effective pet keeping rules. People are so casual and uncaring about such matters. I have seen some people religiously feeding stray animals with waste food without taking any other responsibilities from their side. 

Curiously, the civic authorities of India are maintaining a silence that is causing immense anger in the minds of many of the citizens who have faced the stray animal menace. I discussed this with a person who is supposed to take actions for control of such perceptible threats to the health and safety of the public. He told me that the stray dog menace cannot be managed in India so long as there exists the present day Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA Act) together with the meddling bureaucrats, insensitive politicians and the pseudopetans in India. According to him nothing can be done even if the media and the affected people make hue and cries here and there and now and then.

I took some time to check the facts about this. To my utter dismay, I found that what my acquaintance from the administration had revealed is true.

Now, before I go in to that further, let me explain the meanings of the words I mentioned above. 

Meddling bureaucrats are those fellows who cleverly introduce some clauses in the bills they draft for the politicians to pass in the parliament or the assemblies that eventually become the laws of the land. They introduce such clauses which prima-facie appear as good but do much damage later than good. 

For example let us see the first definition of the PCA Act of India .This act defines an animal as ' any living being other than a human being'.  So, this act could be used to frame a criminal charge against any body who killed or tried to kill even a mosquito which was a nuisance in his house! This situation could have been avoided if the bureaucrats who drafted the bill were a bit more careful and honest to their work. But then, bureaucrats and their assisting staff work under pressure and they are often required to draft the bills in haste under some arbitrary time schedule fixed by some higher authorities with least consideration to realities. By experience, the bill drafting staff know the competency levels of their seniors that they could afford to take such liberties in drafting the bill clauses in this fashion. Sometimes it is overlooking due to incompetency. Other times it is willful meddling!

Then comes the insensitive politicians who make the laws. In India, the bills are presented and passed by the ruling party. It is simply a formality. If you watch the parliament proceedings where the bills are getting passed to become laws, you would probably think much more fortunate than the poor parliamentarians as many of the latter have absolutely no role in making any changes in the bills drafted by the lower rung staff of the ministry. I even doubt whether a majority of them even understand what they actually pass or oppose! So, most likely our PCA act also became a law in India because of the ill fate of the country because the law does not address any complications that would arise out of such a law.

Lastly there are the pseudopetans. PETA is the acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. So anybody who is an activist for the animal rights is a Petan. Pseudo means falsehood. Pseudopetan means any body who blindly makes a hue and cry for animals and try to run some agency or NGO supposedly taking their mission as if to protect animals from exploitation or cruelty without any consideration to the human society. A true petan becomes pseudopetan when he or she becomes an activist without human wisdom. And the present day world has more such pseudo activists for every cause.

So PETA and PCA together with the meddling bureaucrats and insensitive politicians have all contributed to the insolvable problem of stray dog menace in India. In India as the human population on a daily basis is increasing faster than the total population of many other nations, for all practical purposes, human life has become cheaper than that of animals. Affluent Indians interested in getting publicity may prefer to take up the animal cause than the cause of the people.

In short, impractical laws like the PCA, drafted, passed and amended many times with least consideration to its ultimate effects on the society at large create much hurdles in the lives of the Indian people if they think of living in their country as 'law abiding' citizens. But then, no one really abide by the laws in India. Laws are not for abiding and that is a well known thing for the law drafters, en-actors, enforcers and the interpreters. Normally nothing happens when you break an impractical law, but you risk to be booked if some one has some scores to be settled with you for any reason.

When laws like PCA are in vogue, the local administrations of the cities and towns would be handicapped to manage issues like these. It is not that they cannot do it. They can do it. But they get more excuses and shelter in the PCA act not to do any thing to control the stray dog menace in their jurisdictional areas. 

Added to the complications of public administration and management is the indecisiveness that is inherent with any democratic system of governance. There cannot be any immediate solutions in the near future or in the times of the immediate few generations!

So, use your own ingenious methods if stray dogs are a perceivable threat to your peaceful living in India.