At various points in the receding past, this country has hinted at the ferocity it veils behind various facades by doing deplorable things, one of which is the way animals have habitually become center of brutality to fuel protests and rallies.
With the latest show of atrocity being displayed at one of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s election campaigns in Sargodha where two sloth bears where paraded around and forced to dance with ropes strung through their noses to control them. The PTI aspirant from PS-78 had also gone live on his official Facebook page, appearing to be in all respects, unfazed about the animal abuse manifest during his rally.
In conversation with The News, one of the founding members of the party and candidate of Karachi's NA-256 constituency, Najeeb Haroon stated regarding the topic: “When the society is at a downhill, everything declines in all respects whether they are rights of animals or humans or women or anything else. We need to focus on developing the nation socially and economically, because once the public rids themselves of their problems, that is how we can grow morally. Religion is also large factor that can ignite moral values into our people as God has numerous times in the Quran stressed on the rights of not just humans but animals as well as everything else in existence. Social, economic and religious development is what I believe can spark some improvement into this deteriorating society.”
This incident came to light less than week after a donkey had ‘Nawaz’ written over its body and was later austerely tortured leading to several days filled with anguish till he succumbed to his wounds yesterday.
Following the trend, workers of the rival party also jumped on the bandwagon with another video circulating showing a dog with PTI posters plastered over it, being paraded during one of its rallies.
In reference to the issue,Hafiz Naeemur Rehman Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi in an effort to provide solicitude stated to The News: "Our morals have deteriorated greatly over the course of time. In spite of us belonging to a religion that preaches significance to all creatures, we have failed to give them their rights. When the Holy Prophet (PBUH) used to see any animal in agony, he would focus all his energy into making sure it is liberated out of the pain.”
The practice of exploiting animals to incite political dissension has been continuing since a sweeping period of time now.
In 2014, local dailies reported the agonizing slaughter of a wild boar with the phrase “Go Nawaz Go” dashed off over it. The animal was snarled with cables and was later beaten to death by protesters with sticks.
Amidst the 2013 General Election campaigns, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz rallies had been enticing a hefty number of crowd by bringing in their electoral symbol in the flesh, -tigers and lions. It was in one of these promotional drives that media outlets reported the death of a rare white tiger due to sweltering weather which the animal was not habituated to.
Donkeys, unquestionably one of the most ill-fated creatures to be dwelling in this unfortunate country have been the center of brutality innumerable times.
Abundant instances of donkeys cloaked in flags of the United States or Israel have come to surface where they are beaten with sticks, have shoes thrown at them and are ruthlessly tormented through multiple other ways.
Whether it concerns politics, fury over losing a mere cricket match or the elevation of prices in the country, these creatures have endured a long, perpetual cycle of anguish that anyone of us in the country refuses to even acknowledge much less, stand up against it. And those who do are customarily under compulsion, muzzled because “in a country where human life has no value, who cares about animals?”