Friday October 30, 2009, 9:19 am
To,

Shri Manmohan Singh
Hon'ble Prime Minister &
Chairman, National Board of Wildlife
7, Race Course Road
New Delhi – 110 011

Hon’ble Prime Minister,

We were shocked to learn that 12 captive elephants from Jaipur were allowed
to play in a polo match organized at the Classic Golf Resort at Manesar,
Gurgaon, on Saturday,October 10, 2009 (BCCL / Ranjit Kumar) in direct
contravention of the Orders of the Hon’ble High Court of Rajasthan. (
article attached.)
Sir, as you may be aware, the tragic history of tourist elephants of
Rajasthan is a story of misuse, abuse and ignorance at the hands of private
parties. The permissions given, if at all, are totally against the Wildlife
Protection Act of India, and against all laws of natural justice and
fairness to a helpless, wild animal that has been afforded the highest
protection as a Schedule 1 animal.

As per guidelines issued by the Project Elephant Directorate, MoEF, New
Delhi – “the Asian elephant has been accorded highest protection by listing
them in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, Ministry is quite
concerned about its protection, care and management.”
As per Rule 2 - Guidelines for care and management of captive elephants
issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forests , Project Elephant , No
9-5/2003-PE dated 8-1-08 To The CWLW (All States/ UTs)
Sub - 2.Illegal elephants i.e. those which have not been declared under the
declaration of the Wild life Stock Rules 2003 or are found without valid
documents will be confiscated.
It may be noted that AWBI secretary Mr. D. Rajasekar IFS, in a letter dated
2nd March 2009 has cautioned the Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan on
the specific violations with regards to the Performing Animals
(Registration) Rules, 2001 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,
1960.

In view of the amendment to WLP Act in 2003, it is mandatory to obtain the
permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden in writing under Section 40 (2) and
Section 42 of the WLPA to possess an elephant subject to the person having
adequate facilities and infrastructure for maintaining an elephant. The
Declaration of Stock Rules, 2003 makes it mandatory for all persons
possessing elephants to declare the elephants and obtain fresh ownership
certificate and under Rule 12, any captive animal in respect of which
ownership certificate has not been granted or obtained shall be treated as
government property. In the above case in Rajasthan it is doubtful if the
persons alleging to be owners have the valid ownership certificates and
hence it is necessary to ascertain if the persons possessing the elephants
fulfill the above provisions of WLPA.

Elephants in captivity undergo terrible abuse at the hands of private owners
and institutions, being exploited as commercial commodities in functions and
festivals and the same is in violation of the spirit of Section 43 of WLPA
and the WLPA provisions which ban trade and commercial transactions.

Thus there is tremendous cruelty and torture to elephants, which is in
violation of Article 51 (A) (g) of the Indian Constitution which call upon
all citizens to have compassion for living creatures and Section 11 and
other provisions of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
which prohibits the infliction of unnecessary pain and suffering on all
animals . Articles 48-A of the Indian Constitution calls upon the State to
protect and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. It is
also relevant to mention that due to abuse of elephants, there has been an
increase in the number of unnatural deaths of mahouts and elephants.

The use of elephants in public also poses a very big risk to the lives and
safety of the public. In the above case, the Jaipur elephants have also
exhibited traits of violent behavior due to the harshness and ill-treatment
meted out to it by its “owners”. Therefore exhibiting these animals to the
rigors of a game like polo is against public safety and in violation of 289
of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to negligent conduct with respect to an
animal.

There is a specific ban on the use of lions, tigers, bears, panthers and
monkeys as performing animals vide central government notification dated
14th October 1998 . It is very necessary that similar ban be imposed on
elephants.

The office of the Chief Conservator of Forests Thane Maharashtra has
issued a circular dated 24-07-2007 prohibiting elephants in the city of
Mumbai Municipal Corporation on grounds of violation of wildlife laws. The
office of the Chief Conservator of Forests Guwahati Assam has issued a
circular dated 18-08-2007 directing DFOs to take action those using
elephants for begging and other performances on grounds of violation of The
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,
1960

In view of the above, it is very shocking that these elephants have been
permitted to be used as entertainment props and hence and there is an urgent
need for similar bans to be issued on the use of elephants as performing
animals and for commercial purposes in all States of the country.

We kindly appeal for your intervention in the above matter and request
for a ban on the use of elephants in polo or in any other sports
activities / entertainment / performances/ begging or any other activity
that cause pain and suffering to the elephants.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,
Petitioner of Elephant Polo in Jaipur
नरेश कादियान http://nareshkadyan.blogspot.com/
अध्यक्ष,पीपल्स फॉर एनिमल हरियाणा,
Naresh Kadyan http://nareshkadyan.webs.com/
अंतरराष्ट्रीय पशु रक्षा संगठन के भारतीय प्रतिनिधि
Representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection in India,
http://www.oipa.org/oipa/news/oipaindia.html
Chair PFA Haryana http://www.pfaharyana.in
+91-9813010595 , 9313312099
http://nareshkadyanbook.blogspot.com/


cc: Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the
Ministry of Environment and Forests
jairam@sansad.nic.in

Sri K. M. Chandrasekhar, Union Cabinet Secretary, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New
Delhi 110 004
cabinetsy@nic.in

Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO
Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110 003

Shri A.N. Prasad I.F.S - Inspector General of Forests & Director, Project
Elephant, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex,
Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003 gajendra@nic.in

Dr. Anjani Kumar, Director, 8th Floor, Jeewan Prakash Building, 25, K.G.
Marg, New Delhi-110001
anjani.moef@yahoo.com

Chief Wildlife Warden, Government of Rajasthan, Van Bhavan, Vaniki Path,
Jaipur 302 005.

Conservator of Forests & CWW, Govt. of Delhi, Kamala Nehru Ridge,
Delhi-110007

Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India, 13/1, Third Seaward Road, Valmiki
Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai-600 041 rmkawbi@yahoo.co.in

Rissala Polo Club, C/o Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon, India, Ph:
+91-9810339697
rissalapolo@gmail.com