By Arré Bench Jun. 04, 2020
Muslims have been wrongly accused for being responsible for the killing of the pregnant elephant in Kerala. It all started after BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi said the incident took place in Malappuram, a Muslim-dominated district in the state.
The horrific death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala has become the subject of national news, after it emerged that the animal died after eating a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers. While the elephant’s suffering is tragic enough, it has been made worse by misinformation and needless communalisation also being spun into the narrative surrounding the incident. What began with misreporting of the facts – including the district where the incident occurred and the details of how the elephant ingested the explosive-laced pineapple – soon snowballed into another nasty debate between two sides more concerned with putting down the other than the subject at hand – the way India treats its wildlife.
Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill.@moefcc @PIB_India @PIBHindi
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 4, 2020
Maneka Gandhi, a BJP Lok Sabha member and animal rights activist, initially claimed in an interview that the incident took place in Malappuram, which she termed “the most violent district in the country”, and that locals had fed the elephant the lethal fruit. However, this was not the case at all. “It’s murder. Malappuram is famous for such incidents, it’s India’s most violent district. For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300-400 birds & dogs die at one time.” Malappuram, as it turns out, is a Muslim- majority district. But Gandhi did not get her facts correct. The incident was reported from the Silent Valley in Attappadi, Palakkad. Even so, this fake bit of news began to spread, with Union Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar amplifying the message.
Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill.@moefcc @PIB_India @PIBHindi
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 4, 2020
Once leaders like Gandhi and Javadekar put the misinformation into the public domain, it became fodder for many to turn the elephant’s demise into another Hindu versus Muslim issue, as Twitter user Vivek Nambiar pointed out.
Honestly, the way they change the narrative is scary.
It operates systematically, with players from different areas doing their bit.
National icons/influencers + TV channels + news wires + fake-news peddlers + Sanghi heavyweight troll accounts + IT cell dimwits.
— V (@ivivek_nambiar) June 3, 2020
In no time, the incident became fodder to attack the minority community.
Malappuram is dominated by Muslims. This seems to have been a deliberately executed crime of utmost heartless sadism because to Hindus the elephant is a revered animal. https://t.co/mpUgm8B6Hk
— || धर्म 1st || Established in Yoga, ARISE O Bhārat (@iamviryavaan) June 2, 2020
Unfortunately, this was not an unexpected turn of events in India, where even the coronavirus pandemic received a communal colour in the media, both online and mainstream.
Sacred elephant – Muslim area.
Brilliant script from the people who lynch humans over choice of food.
What happend was remorse and unjustifiable , but stop this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/BiAedFCuvo— Elina (@LawyerInBaking) June 3, 2020
Thankfully, not everyone bought into the false narrative. The forest department’s investigation into the matter brought more facts to life, allowing people to counter the false claims that there was a religious angle to the elephant’s death.
Elephant accidently ate the trap kept for wild boars.
No, not good. Make it like ‘A hooligan fed elephant cracker’.
It happened in Palakkad.
No, not good. Change it to Malappuram.
Its a wild elephant.
No, make it like ‘Hindu elephant killed in muslim majority Malappuram!’ https://t.co/ityD4B79AU
— The Saudade Guy (@arunrajpaul) June 4, 2020
Meanwhile, others called out Maneka Gandhi’s claim that Malappuram was India’s most violent district by comparing its crime statistics with those from her own constituency, Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Here is a comparison between Malappuram and @Manekagandhibjp ‘s constituency. How audacious this dunghead should be to blame Malappuram for criminal activities?
Data © : Ullas KG https://t.co/dlu6guDKY8 pic.twitter.com/VWVH8V1CQ7
— Arjun Ramakrishnan (@aju000) June 4, 2020
Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressed the issue of the elephant’s death, but also noted that it was being given an unnecessary spin by certain parties. He called out those twisting the narrative of the elephant’s death for having misplaced priorities.
Having said that, we are saddened by the fact some have used this tragedy to unleash a hate campaign. Lies built upon inaccurate descriptions and half truths were employed to obliterate the truth. Some even tried to import bigotry into the narrative. Wrong priorities.
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) June 4, 2020
What the tragic story of this elephant’s death has shown is that in India any issue can become fertile ground for communalisation to spring from, even if it had nothing to do with it in the first place.
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