{"id":38242,"date":"2015-02-07T00:36:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-07T05:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=38242"},"modified":"2015-02-07T00:36:43","modified_gmt":"2015-02-07T05:36:43","slug":"emergence-of-hora-ali-panthiyarogue-elephant-class-turns-country-into-an-elephant-houseof-elephantine-proportions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=38242","title":{"rendered":"Emergence of “Hora Ali Panthiya”(Rogue Elephant Class) Turns Country into an “Elephant House”of Elephantine Proportions"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Lucien Rajakarunanayake<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the flavour of Elephant House ice cream, and the fuzz and taste of Elephant Brand soft drinks are still with us, the once popular restaurant and catering service of Elephant House wound up many years ago. There are many who still remember the service at Fountain Caf\u00e9, that stood out in Colombo as a restaurant well known for its ice cream and short eats with nostalgia for such flavour in food, drink and courteous service.<\/p>\n

Yet, quite unknown to us there has been a wide expansion of the Elephant Brand in property and assets, extending from people favoured with the right connections in politics, the outrageous spread of nepotism and extended reach of family bandyism in governance; and, the chaining and corralling of elephants in places of worship far removed in practice from what they preach about compassion and kindness to all beings.<\/p>\n

Little did one expect the slogans of Yaha Paalanaya that echoed throughout the country in the run-up to the recent election, which saw the emergence of a new political leadership, lead to the discovery of so many elephants, from babies and adults, in the most unexpected of locations.<\/p>\n

They are sprouting out today in so many places that are far removed from the jungles of our land that are the natural habitat of Elephas Maximus Maximus \u2013 the Sri Lankan Elephant \u2013 and the sanctuary and breeding ground for elephants at Pinnnawela.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We are now discovering a new tradition of “Sannasas” or deeds of gifts, closely associated with royalty of the past, in the gifting of elephants to family favourites \u2013 be it brothers or sons, and to others who have suddenly developed a desire to be among the “Elephant Owning Clan”, in a display of corrupt acquisition, that seems the hallmark of the arrogance of power and privilege.<\/p>\n

There is very good cause to ask what the Department of Wildlife Conservation was doing in these several years when so many elephants were obviously captured from the jungles of our land, often with the killing of the mother elephants? Did they never hear of such horrible crimes against the pride of our jungles? <\/p>\n

Was it a case of them turning a blind eye to the robbing and chaining of these animals that are part of our legend and lore, and are still loved and nursed when necessary, even by villagers who suffer most from the man made human-elephant conflict, that has been blown out of proportion to favour those greedy for these pachyderms? Did they turn their eyes away because of the fear of harsh consequences if they did even try to enforce the law? Or, were they also accomplices in these massive robberies to bring glory to a new class in society \u2013 the “Hora Ali Panthiya” or Rogue Elephant Class?<\/p>\n

It is also necessary to ask what those in charge of our Zoological Gardens, who also manage the Pinnawela Elephant Sanctuary, were doing when elephant calves that were still suckling from their mothers, were forcibly and somewhat secretly taken away – to end up as offerings of thanksgiving to temples, for success in politics and a rise in the reach of those who wielded power at the time?<\/p>\n

There are funny, but truly sad stories we hear today about those who have been compelled to give up their elephantine wealth, as the search for hidden jumbos gather speed – and one hope would gather more speed in the coming days.<\/p>\n

There are many more things that have to be asked from these “elephant owners” of questionable honesty than their possession of a permit to have an elephant in one\u2019s premises. Has the Wildlife Department even bothered to find out whether these jumbo wallahs had the conditions under which an elephant could live in reasonable comfort, even after being tamed by painful thrusts from a goad, and the lack of mobility with steel chains on their legs?<\/p>\n

There is a new thinking required into this entire “Sannasa” – whether Royal or Presidential Endowment “game”, that is being claimed by some who have had these elephants in their premises. The funniest story I read is the non-contradicted statement by a former Ministry Secretary, who said he was handing over the two elephants he had, one said to be from a “Sannasa” and the other without a proper permit, because he could not afford to maintain them anymore. <\/p>\n

A hardly defensible claim, when all the wealth that this one-time Ministry Secretary had lost was only his salary and allowances in such a post. Should we not know what other wealth he had to be able to maintain two elephants, until politics took a different turn, and he had to move out of office? <\/p>\n

I guess it must have been a huge amount, and if so where did all his elephantine expenditure come from? I think some jumbo answers are needed.<\/p>\n

Good luck, with strength and courage to the Deputy Minister of Tourism who is carrying on this hunt for hidden jumbos. It certainly is no easy task, with the overlapping influence of both political pressure, and the desire among some to play down the exposure of family power that the people voted out in very certain terms.<\/p>\n

The elephants that are still being held, both against the law, and without suitable conditions for living that are known to the wildlife authorities, and also stated in legal judgments, are making trumpet calls for help and relief. The time is nigh when officialdom will need the active support of animal lovers, campaigners for animal rights, as well as well as the preachers of compassion to all beings, to be brought together in a truly jumbo operation to save the elephant.<\/p>\n

Listen to the trumpet calls, and respond with the strength of all the elephants that call for help. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Island <\/em> <\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Although the flavour of Elephant House ice cream, and the fuzz and taste of Elephant Brand soft drinks are still with us, the once popular restaurant and catering service of Elephant House wound up many years ago. There are many who still remember the service at Fountain Caf\u00e9, that stood out in …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Emergence of “Hora Ali Panthiya”(Rogue Elephant Class) Turns Country into an “Elephant House”of Elephantine Proportions’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38243,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38242\/revisions\/38243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}