In yet another gruesome incident related to Kerala’s unending stray dog menace, a 90-year-old man was killed in an attack by a pack of dogs in Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday even as politicians and anti-stray dog campaigners unleashed scathing criticisms against Union Minister Maneka Gandhi for her statement that people killing the canines should be booked under Anti-Goonda Act.
Raghavan of Mundayil in Varkala was attacked by a pack of six or more stray dogs at about 4.30 am on Wednesday when he was asleep on the verandah of his house. He was first taken to the Taluk Hospital in Varkala with serious bite injuries to his head, face and legs but had to be shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram where he died in the afternoon.
The 90-year-old man was the second person to be killed in an attack by stray dogs in Kerala in less than 70 days. A 65-year-old woman, Siluvamma of Chembakaramanthara, Pulluvila in Thiruvananthapuram, was killed on the night of August 19 in an attack by a large pack of stray dogs on the beach near her house.
Anti-stray dog campaigners in Kerala have renewed their call for culling ferocious and aggressive stray dogs in the context of the Raghavan’s death. They, in association with some local administration bodies in central Kerala, had killed scores of stray dogs using brutal means after the horrible death of Siluvamma.
Meanwhile, Kerala local Administration Minister KT Jaleel came down heavily on Maneka Gandhi for her statement that the State’s Director General of Police should charge those who were continuously killing stray dogs and inciting others to do the same under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAPA).
“Such people do not know about the dangers the people of Kerala are facing because of stray dogs. They are not seeing or hearing what is happening here. Sitting in Delhi, they can say anything,” Jaleel told newsmen in response to the statement made by the Union Minister in an interview given to a Kerala TV channel.
“We cannot accept the argument about booking people under KAPA (for dealing with stray dogs). What is important is the human life. It is the State Government’s duty to provide protection for the lives of the people. To say that we are being cruel to animals when we are trying to fulfill our duty will be counter-productive,” Jaleel said.
“I don’t think even the BJP which is in power in the Centre will share this (Maneka Gandhi’s) view… The Kerala Government is going ahead with steps to achieve the goal of making the State stray dog-free in the next five years,” the Minister said, adding that the programme will be implemented with the active participation of the local administration bodies.
State Congress president VM Sudheeran said that the Union Minister’s opinion that KAPA should be imposed on those who were behind the culling of stray dogs did not reflect balance of mind. “There shouldn’t be a situation where the life of a dog is considered as more important than human life,” he said.
“Such statements should not come from a Minister like Maneka Gandhi… The stray dog menace is very serious in Kerala. let her come to Kerala to understand it. It is not appropriate for a person of her position to pass philosophical comments without seeing the ground reality,” he said.