Click to play videoA Sessions Court in Jodhpur has sentenced actor Salman Khan to five years of rigorous imprisonment for killing an endangered Chinkara. The court has also rejected Salman’s appeal asking for 10 days time to surrender.
An arrest warrant has been issued against the actor and a team from Rajasthan Police will be sent on Saturday to arrest him.
Poaching and illegal trading of endangered animals remains rampant with as many as 400 species getting close to the verge of extinction across India now.
There are as many as 15,000 wildlife crimes pending in Indian courts including those of large-scale poaching of rare animals, trade of tiger and leopard skins, international smuggling—and yet none of these face harsh sentence or speedy trial by the courts.
Has Salman been persecuted just because he is a celebrity? Will a jail term for the actor deter wildlife poaching?
Wildlife Conservationist Ulhas Karanth, Director, Actor Rahul Dev, President, Liberty Institute Barun Mitra discussed on Face the Nation whether the verdict on Salman will be a deterrent for poachers.
Will jail for Salman Khan deter wildlife poaching?
Salman Khan’s conviction is being considered a landmark judgement for wildlife conservation in India and the conservation community is jubilant.
But conservationists argue that Salman's case is only the tip of the iceberg. Data collected by the Wildlife Protection Society of India shows that are over 15,000 wildlife crime cases pending in courts across India involving over 400 species of endangered wildlife.
Some of the biggest wildlife crime cases are those of Sansar Chand, who has 57 court cases pending against him for hunting tigers and leopards. One of the biggest hauls of wildlife skins was in the year 2000 when 18,000 leopard claws and 132 tiger claws were recovered.
Just two days back, 57 shahtoosh shawls, which are extracted by killing Tibetan antelope, were seized in Delhi.
Most people in the film fraternity believe that Salman has been persecuted because he is Salman Khan. People love to hate celebrities and the issue in his case is not poaching or wildlife but his celebrity status.
Hailing from the film industry himself Rahul Dev only echoed the sentiment. ”Salman Khan has been made a soft target because he is a huge star,” Deve said.
The actor said that the only way to save wildlife in India is to make it a part of the economic self-interest of the people. “You should pass on wildlife rearing into private hands and let them capitalise it as a resource,” he opined.
“Economically if you involve wildlife where it is made profitable to rear large numbers of wild species for their trade, it will help bring up their numbers,” Dev further added.
According to Dev, Salman had apologised numerous times and getting five years for killing an animal was certainly inappropriate.
The animals that Salman hunted were the blackbuck and the Chinkara—already on the endangered list. Large-scale hunting of the Chinkara was in fact what also led to the extinction of the Cheetah from India.
Wildlife can be saved securing the habitat of animals
Can the wildlife be saved by compassion and kindness or by making them a part of man’s economic self- interest?
Barun Mitra said that wildlife conservation should be handed out to the private players.
“Why do we not face the problem of extinction for the animals that we use the most? Chickens, goats, cattle, turkeys never seem to finish because they are reared in terms of demand and supply,” he pointed out.
Wildlife is a valuable economic resource, which we have to capitalise. “We have to let private players benefit from this resource and that is the only way they will maintain it,” said Mitra.
Four million crocodiles are farmed for their skin, which is used in the fashion industry. Most crocodiles are not endangered. “No poacher can compete with a modernised, mechanised trader who is maintaining a farm,” said Mitra.
In 2006, USA officially announced that they have $120 billion of economic activity generated from what they call “environmental recreation” which includes trekking, nature walks, bird watching, fishing and wildlife hunting and the whole gamut, said Mitra.
If we allow similar wildlife rearing and make the animal trade a legal thing, it may help raise the animal population, he suggested.
Wildlife Conservationist Ulhas Karanth however opposed the view.
He said the basic step to save wildlife is to secure the habitat of animals, which is fast depleting due to aforestation and spread of concrete cover into forest area.
“We can save the habitat of animals by keeping out poachers, criminals. Make local communities aware to stop using the land around wild life sanctuaries and make them conducive for animals. Human occupations are impinging on the habitat of the animals,” said Karanth.
“Like the Bishnois there are other communities who feel strongly for animal conservation because it’s a part of their culture. We must promote active participation of such communities in conservation process,” he added.
“There are people out there poaching for all sorts of reasons. Some of them are just poor, they want to kill animals to earn some money, while others are traders such as Sansar Chand. And then there are people who do it for fun like actor Salman Khan who has now been convicted. A strong message has to go to all of them. When those perceived as high and mighty are convicted, it sends the right signal,” said Ulhas Karanth, Director, Wildlife Conservation Society India.
Poaching is a serious crime, comes last in the priority list
India still has 300-4000 kilometers of forest cover in the country. But the jungles are all empty because the poachers have killed all animals for their skin and bones. Poaching is a serious crime and unfortunately it comes last on the priority list when we talk of crime and conviction
Barun Mitra however disagreed with the view that laws can help saving the Indian wildlife. He said that the animal population couldn’t go up unless wildlife conservation and breeding is not made a part of common man’s economic self-interest to conserve animals.
“There is a limit to which policing can work. When celebrities face justice the whole nation seems to clap. We forget that Salman Khan might go to jail. But would wildlife in India get better protection through this kind of policing? I think it will not,” said Mitra.
Mitra said that the government should allow breeding, hunting and trading of animal skins so that an economic benefit gets attached to the whole rearing of animals. This way, their population will not deplete to extinction but will remain constant at a certain level.
“That is the only way we can save wildlife,” said Mitra.
Ulhas Karanth however vehemently opposed the idea. “Even in countries where wildlife is widely traded like South Africa, the national parks are protected by armed forces and outside these parks there are other land users who rear wildlife in farms and trade in it. I don’t think it’s a solution that will work in a country like India where the wildlife is down to three per cent while there are a billion consumers who are waiting to take it,” said Karanth.
Mitra argued by saying that huge natural reserves were to be created where people could go for wildlife watching, nature tracking and hunting.
“United States today has more black bucks than we have in whole of Asia because they allow hunting,” said Mitra.
Debating his view, Karanth said that hunting was allowed in India until 1972, “in some of the privately owned lands it was completely legal. And during this period the wildlife was completely devastated. That was why laws were brought in and after that wildlife recovered. What Professor Mitra is suggesting was there for a hundred years during which wildlife was killed, finished to the last trace wiped off the Indian landscapes,” concluded Karanth.
Final results: Will jail for Salman Khan deter wildlife poaching?
Yes- 62 per cent
No- 38 per cent
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
 |
 |
 |
|
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
