Farmers demand protection from wild animals
George Kommattam - November 2020
Farmers demand protection of their farms and lives from wild animals. Wild boars destroy the cultivation and often becomes a threat to the lives of farmers in Kerala. Recently in Poovathumchola, in Kozhikode district of Kerala, wild boars have entered the house of a farmer and destroyed everything in the house. Finally, foresters had to shoot them inside the house. The menace of wild animals has already moved from the forest to the farmers' house.
For a long time farmers and church have been demanding the protection of their farm from wild animals including wild boars, monkeys, elephants etc. In Kerala, farmers cultivate to feed the wild animals not their children. The situation is very serious in rural areas, but the government has not taken any steps to control them permanently.
"We are under constant threat and our life is in peril due to the attack of wild animals" laments Augustine Pallathu, a 70 year old farmer from Kakkadampoyil, a hilly region in the diocese of Thamarassery.
"You may laugh at our demands. But it is grave. We can not survive anymore. We work hard and wild boar destroy it as usual. How we will survive? The contradiction is that farmers are less protected than animals in our country "Jerish Kocheril another farmer from Chakkittapara, district of Calicut, told keralacatholiconline.
A few years back a farmer tried to commit suicide when wild boar destroyed his crop which he was cultivated using a bank loan. "We have no other way, we are ready to follow the suit" he cautioned.
The threat from wild boars become grave after the central government included wild boar in the list of protected animals in 2004. "Now they have multiplied like anything and now they have settled in the farm since farmers are unable to chase them away, if they do that they will be charged" Joy Kannanchira, VFarm State Chairman said.
"The government should amend the law, and the wild boar should be kept out of the list of protected animals. That law is not applicable in Kerala, because most of the people in villages depend on agriculture for their livelihood" he continued.
Government can protect animals but at the same time, they should also protect the farmers and their cultivation. In villages, people are unable to send their children to school or go for rubber tapping fearing the attack of wild boar he added.
He demanded that the government should take a concrete step to protect farm and farmers unless there will be no farmers in our state.
Augustine Pallath told that we are grateful to church people, for bringing our plight to public. Often our cries are unheard, government neglect us since we are minorities. Anyway, most of the Christians depend on their farm for their livelihood.
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