Maneka writes to Sri Lankan President, seeking freedom for elephant from captivity
Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 17
Born in 1949, a year after Ceylon (Sri Lanka) got free Bandula the elephant today is 10-ft tall. But the last 67 years of his life he has spent in shackles since he was brought in from Hambantota as a three-year-old cub. Today, as voices in the island nation come together to seek his freedom, it has struck a chord with people in India too.
Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has written a letter to Sri Lankan President Sirisena seeking compassion for Bandula.
A noted animal rights activist, Gandhi, in her letter dated September 14, writes, “Many people in Sri Lanka have reached out to me about the plight of Bandula that has been chained for 67 years in the Dehiwala zoo. Sri Lanka is such a gentle and beautiful island. It seems out of character to treat an elephant in this way.”
Incidentally, a former diplomat and former spokesperson to the previous Rajapakse government, Bandula Jayasekera, filed an online petition on change.org, seeking freedom for Bandula the tusker as well as six other female elephants, similarly shackled at the Colombo zoo.
The petition demands an open sanctuary or safari for the animals to roam free, a sentiment shared by Gandhi who also raised the matter with former President Rajapakse during his visit to New Delhi last week for a conference, sources say.
“May I request you to release the elephant and send it to the Ridiyagama Safari Park to live free. We have, in India, banned elephants in zoos because they showed so much stress at being chained for so long. Many went mad. Recently, we have released six elephants in Safari Park,” wrote the minister, sharing India’s experience on the subject with the Sri Lankan President.
“People have not really campaigned enough for Bandula so far. We have created awareness and are hopeful, especially after the letter written by Maneka Gandhi. In case President Sirisena is not aware of the matter, we hope he will now understand and take cognisance,” Bandula Jayasekara told The Tribune from Colombo.
