Perahera problems

Wednesday, 25 August 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Esala Perahera was held this past weekend in Kandy but, seeing that it was being held amid a pandemic, it was held without crowds and also broadcast live on terrestrial television. This move was meant to boost the spirits of the masses, who had just a few days prior been informed of a 10-day lockdown.

However, the sight of an elephant that was part of the parade running amok – the video of which has since gone viral – has brought about a different conversation. A long overdue conversation concerning the wellbeing of these elephants kept in captivity.

Now this, of course, is something of a contentious topic in the primarily Buddhist country of Sri Lanka with many activists tending to tread on eggshells so as to not offend cultural and religious sensitivities. It’s high-time however that this tiptoeing around the subject comes to an end.

As any fifth grader will tell you, in Buddhism, the first of the five precepts is not limited to not taking a life. It extends to not causing bodily harm in any way, shape or form to any living being. In fact, the entire philosophy of Buddhism is built around compassion and loving kindness to all. In this context, the practice of using captured and ‘domesticated’ elephants as pageantry in the name of Buddhism goes against the very essence of what is one of the most compassionate religions in world history. Why then do we, as a predominantly Buddhist society, continue to indulge in this cruel practice?

The answer, as is often the case with such matters, is complicated. One school of thought is that it is more cultural than it is religious – in that it is intertwined with the Sinhala-Buddhist identity of the country. Many make the argument that anyone who eats meat, thereby directly contributing to the slaughter of millions of animals every year, cannot oppose this practice without being hypocritical. However, the two are not mutually exclusive; one can consume the meat of animals bred for food and still oppose the abuse of wild animals being chained up and literally masqueraded as domesticated servants of the faith.

Secondly, the dubious nature of their origins and their questionable treatment notwithstanding, the temples continue to provide food and shelter to captured elephants, and releasing animals accustomed to human care back into the wild is not an option, for obvious reasons. There is also no proper mechanism in place to address such an eventuality.

Be that as it may, what cannot be argued is that this practice, ingrained though it may be in our culture’s DNA, is cruel and fundamentally un-Buddhist.

Since the incident, it has come to light that the Government plans to issue captive elephants with their own biometric identity cards and ban riders from drinking on the job. The measures, which come under a new wide-ranging animal protection law, seeks to implement strict regulations around working elephants.

While this may offer a short-term solution regarding elephants being used for cultural pageants, it still enables the use of elephants for cultural pageants. The only long-term solution is to form a dialogue with all parties concerned and work towards a solution that is humane, acceptable to all, and most importantly puts an end to this needless cruelty towards these majestic beasts.