Bhopal: Animal rights activist and BJP MP
Maneka Gandhi has flayed Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Sartaj Singh's proposed move to simplify rules for hunting of wild boars and blue bulls as demanded by farmers and MLAs following damage to their crops by these animals.
"Let me clarify at the outset that this decision to
permit hunting of wild boars and blue bull in the wild is not
taken for the sake of farmers, but to benefit those private
forest lodge operators who have cleints from Middle East and
other countries," Maneka said over phone from Delhi.
She alleged that it appears that the Forest Minister must
have been influenced by these lodge operators to permit
hunting of these innocent creatures.
Already the population of wild animals in the country
is reducing and with this decision things will become more
worrisome, the MP from Aaonla in Uttar Pradesh, said.
"If a hunter is allowed to shoot in the forest, what will
happen to other endangered animals freely roaming in the wild?
Will they not get disturbed by the bullet sound. What will
happen if these animals after getting disturbed come down to
villages and towns or in case instead of a wild boar or blue
bull, an elephant got killed accidentally by these hunters,"
she asked.
The government should not allow such things to happen as
already forest cover and population of wild animals is
reducing in the country, she said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 20, 2012, 13:27