JOIN US97 domestic elephants taken out of Assam for 'religious purpose' since 2006, not returned
As many as 97 domestic elephants were taken out of Assam citing "religious purpose" since 2006 but have not been returned despite several reminders by the forest department, the Assam government informed the state Assembly on Thursday.
In a written reply to queries by Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, forest and environment minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the winter session of the Assembly that out of the 97 domestic elephants, 57 were taken to Bihar and others were taken to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala. The pachyderms were taken with approvals from the forest department with a promise that they would be brought back but the jumbos have not been returned despite reminders.
The list of the elephants submitted by Patowary also included Joymala, the female elephant, which was taken to a temple in Tamil Nadu in 2011 but was not returned. The matter invited a lot of attention after PETA India, an animal rights organisation alleged that she was tortured in the temple. The Assam government had sent a team to Tamil Nadu and inspected Joymala's condition following an order of Gauhati High Court but the Tamil Nadu government turned down a request to send her back to Assam.
In September, the Tamil Nadu government told the Madras High Court that it had no intention to return the elephant to Assam.
The domesticated elephants in Assam were used in transportation of timber but they became jobless after the Supreme Court banned felling of trees in 1996. The state forest department gives permission to transfer domestic elephants with a condition to return them after two-three years. But jumbos have not been returned, which is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, officials said.
According to state forest department officials, nearly 1,000 domestic elephants have been taken out similarly since the Supreme Court's ban on tree felling in 1996. The animal rights organisations including PETA India have demanded that all such elephants be brought back to Assam and a rehabilitation centre be set up for them.