Animal farm

Pity the poor Leo tigris. Not only has it been listed in the Red Data Book for being an endangered species naturalists say it may not be around in the next century the Vishwa Hindu Parishad wants to do its bit to push the animal over the edge. For years this country has prided itself on its national animal, which happens to be the tiger, the largest member of the cat family. For years it has gloried in the fact that it is one of the few regions in the world that can still play host to this beast. The close relationship between India and the magnificent tawny-coated mammal has been celebrated in poetry and song, on postal st-amp and calendar. Now all this could change. It seems the animal which William Blake had once extolled for its fearful symmetry could be extinguished from our lives if a sufficient number of eccentrics agree that it is the cow that should be In-dia8217;s national animal, rather than the tiger. Al- ready petitions are being drafted, slogans are being prepared, and the VHP is going to adoptthis as a resolution at its Ahimsa Mahakumbha to take place on the first day of the new millennium, as evidence of its forward looking agenda no doubt.

Now this is not to decry the cow, that most worthy of four-legged beings. For centuries, it has nurtured humankind regardless of region or community, religion or race. And while many in this ancient land worship this gentle, kind and modest animal, surely Go Mata herself would have refused the honour of being designated the national animal in place of the tiger if she could have intervened in the debate? A most urgent response to this misguided campaign must therefore be launched fo-rthwith a Save the Tiger campaign with a difference. Perhaps even Bal Thackeray, who has drawn endless political mileage from the tiger, could be persuaded to rise to the animal8217;s defence in its hour of need, as should Maneka Gandhi, honourable minister and animal lover. After all, if the VHP were to succeed in its campaign, what is there to stop the Bahujan Samaj from pushingthe elephant on the national agenda, or the Kerala Congress from taking a cue and riding a high horse, or the Dalit Panthers, now virtually extinct as a politically force, wishing to revive itself by projecting the panther? And where will this cacophony take the country? To the zoo, no less!

Given these grave implications and complications, political animals of every hue are requested to desist from quixotic pursuits and let the tiger roar in peace in support of the national cause. Truly has Cho Ramaswamy maintained in his ma-iden speech in the Rajya Sabha that many a politician has remarkable asinine qualities which need to be occasionally remarked about and comme-nted on in the media, without inviting instant retribution in the form of contempt proceedings.

And here Najma Heptullah8217;s intervention needs to be specially complimented. The deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, who happened to be presiding over the House at that juncture, rema-rked that as a zoologist she finds this constant disparagementof the ass repugnant. Quite.