Global March For Avni On Nov 11 By 168 Organisations Across Five Continents, Mumbai March At Worli
Mumbai : Over 168 International organisations across 5 continents, more than 30,000 people who have called in support of the movement and millions of people on social media have all expressed their anguish and solidarity to the cause, and the numbers are growing rapidly. There is absolute pain and concern for the cubs, anger and frustration against the officials for their apathy.
“Animal lovers are pouring in, in big numbers in various cities in India and globally to voice their protest against the killing of Avni and the irresponsible attitude of the Maharashtra Forest Department in not securing the cubs safely. There is now growing unrest and anxiety that it may perhaps be too little and too late to get them safely into a rescue centre.
The gathering will take place in Mumbai at the Worli Seaface when hundreds are expected to congregate to demand the resignation of Mr. Sudhir Mungantiwar for his lackadaisical handling of the situation, right from the declaration of Avni as a man-eater and all his irresponsible decisions leading to the predicament of her cubs, and everything in between, including the reasons behind the selling of forest land to corporate India and therefore the need to sanitise the forest. The original petitioners to the case are Dr. Sarita Subramaniam, Dr. P. V. Subramaniam.
Celebrities crusading for Avni like Rupali Ganguli, Jaya Bhattacharya, Ananth Mahadevan, Priyanka Timmins, Kashmira Shah, Anusha Srinivasan Iyer among others held a press conference at Pawsitive Farm Sanctuary at Andheri, Mumbai to request the people to stand up for Avni’s cubs in the powers to be, to help find the two starving tiger cubs whose mother had been made pawn to power play. It was an unusual press conference for Avni’s cubs as 56 cats, 14 dogs and 5 humans came together for the same.
Actress Rupali Ganguly, known for her power-packed television performances, spoke of how two children were named man-eaters when their killed mother had had herself eaten for days.
Director Ananth Mahadevan expressed that the tigers were mere representatives of the state that our Earth is in, and the destructive direction that we are taking. Director Anusha Srinivasan Iyer, citing reports, spoke of Avni’s injuries in the shoulder blade, indicative of the direction she was heading, and the fact that she was not in attack mode. “Her post mortem reports revealed that she hadn’t eaten in days, and the fact that the doctors have cited that the darts were placed on the body of the tigress. Her children are starving with her and after her death. We let a mother searching for food for her children be killed legally. It is shameful. We only think and react when it happens to our own; we forget that the Earth is as much our own,” she stated.
Bharat Sharma added, “We are invading the forests and calling animals, man-eaters. How is it justified?”
Felt Rupali Ganguly, “We would like the honourable Prime Minister to come out and speak for the cubs. It is time each Indian stands up as well.”
Avered Anusha, “There were candle-light marches for Avni and she is dead. Enough has been spoken. Avni’s children represent the future of animals and our own existence of Mother Earth. Let us get into action mode.”
Ananth Mahadevan has the final word, “The Earth always belonged to the animals. We were the last to come. Let us not be the first to wipe out the animal along with our humanity.”
The global protest venues are India: Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chennai, Udaipur, Kolkata, Surat, Ranthambore, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Goa, Vizag, Guwahati &Manipur, International: Zagreb, Croatia, Durban, South Africa, Perth, Australia, San Jose, California, USA, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Canada, Christchurch, New Zealand & Nepal.
Hopefully this unity, though late for Avni, can help save her little cubs. And thereby the forests and their inhabitants, who make our Mother Earth.
