News

Indian film wins International award

Source: http://www.indiaexpress.net/news/entertainment/19990511-0.html

11th May 1999

The film �WILLING TO SACRIFICE� directed by BVB Rao and produced by B Dayakar Rao of Yamini Films won the main award of the ENVIRON Film Festival at the 5th International Festival of Films, TV and Video Programme ENVIRON�99 Bratislava; Slovak Republic.

The award was received by the Embassy of India, Bratislava, Slovak Republic on May 7 at the Award Function Ceremony.

�WILLING TO SACRIFICE� is story of an individual and a community who believe in protecting environment around them. This 500-year-old religious sect follows two principles - not to cut green trees and not to kill wild animals around them. Many religions envisage concern to environment but this community, known as Bishnois protect environment around them fiercely to the extent of sacrificing their own lives. Nihal Chand Bishnoi is one who gave his life in his effort to protect wild animals in October 1996.

Where black bucks are for worship, not shooting

Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/jan/13buck.htm

Bollywood stars may shoots them, but the villagers of Baguda worship black bucks. Idols of black bucks occupy the temples in this 32-village tehsil in south Orissa. Here, the rare antelope is a symbol of prosperity.

''Black bucks are devotees of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. It is a sin to kill them,'' says Dasrathi Nayak of Ramunda village, which has the highest concentration of black bucks in the state. The belief is so strong that people have even installed stone images of bucks in temples, the priest of the nearby Buddhakhole temple points out. While environmentalists are concerned over the slow annihilation of the species, villagers here believe that their prosperity is linked with their conservation.

''The per acre yield of crops in Ramunda increased after some bucks came to stay here following a flood in their original habitat in Vetnoi,'' Dasrathi says.

The villagers do not kill the bucks that come out of nearby forests and graze on their corn fields.

''The more they eat, the more is the yield,'' believes Bhuvani Ra.

No wonder the black buck population in the tehsil increased to 551 last year against 336 in 1993, with no poaching recorded during the period. In fact, when Bhuvani's neighbours killed a buck grazing in their field their crop was mysteriously damaged, she says. The animals do not linger in a particular field for long and move from one to the other. Therefore the loss to any single farmer is minimal, a member of the local youth association points out. The belief has also led to more organised forms of conservation. The Bhanja Yuba Mancha, which came up in the tehsil a year ago, works for increasing awareness on conservation with assistance from the forest department. According to Buguda Forest Range Officer G C Sahu, a black buck protection committee has been formed in the area with participation from two members of each family. It has the divisional forest officer as its president. The 15-member executive committee of the body meets every month. The antelopes, which are mainly seen in the grasslands of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, have become the target of poachers. The bucks are also worshipped by the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan, which was where Bollywood star Salman Khan went hunting in October.

Film stars arrested on charges of poaching

Source: http://www.indiainnewyork.com/iny101698/Bollywood/Film.html

The sets of Rajshri Productions' "Hum Saath Saath Hain" were witness to a real life drama when the police came to arrest some of the filmstars at the Mandore Gardens in Jodhpur last week. Surprisingly, it was not the "villains," but the "heroes" they wanted. One of the "heroes," Salman Khan was arrested on Oct. 12 on charges of poaching deer belonging to an endangered species at Gudha Bishnoian woods, a reserve forest in Rajasthan. The arrest came after the Jodhpur district court denied him bail. Tabu, Neelam, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre and Salman Khan, who star in Rajshri Productions' latest venture "Hum Saath Saath Hain." The five filmstars were accused of killing two black bucks and injuring an Indian gazelle in a reserve forest in Rajasthan. The black bucks and the gazelle are listed among endangered animals in India.

The Khan duo were initially wanted as suspects in the killing and the actresses on charges of being their accomplices. As preliminary interrogations were going on last week, papers granting anticipatory bail to Salman and Saif were presented to the officials. The three accused actresses were presented before a magistrate, who granted them bail on furnishing a surety of Rs 50,000 (about $1,176) each. These (Bishnoi) tribespeople, who have asked the police to take stringent action against the erring filmstars, worship deer and consider killing them a sin. While granting interim bail to the two actors, the magistrate ordered the officials not to arrest them until they were presented in Jodhpur district court on Oct. 12. This was done on condition that they would not leave the city without the court's permission. The film stars could serve up to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, if proven guilty. The villagers of Gudha belong to the Bishnoi tribe of the desert state which has been known for its concern for wildlife and environmental conservation efforts.

"It is one of the most shocking examples of how the laws of this country are being flouted," Valmik Thapar, noted environmentalist and tiger conservationist, told India in New York.. "Every effort to get to the bottom of the matter should be taken."

"We strongly condemn this act and demand that exemplary punishment should be given to them," Ashok Kumar, president of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), a nongovernmental organization, told India in New York..

The WPSI is also planning to ask the court to make it a co-petitioner along with the prosecution in the case against the film personalities.

"They must be punished. There is a need to set up precedence to prevent anyone from taking such liberties in future," fumed a Mumbai-based environmentalist, Shailendra Yashwant.

Wildlife officials also arrested the driver of the vehicle on which the film cast had allegedly been going hunting regularly since they began shooting in Jodhpur on Oct. 1. The vehicle was reportedly found to have bloodstains all over it. The incident has triggered off angry reactions from all and sundry. Pooja Khanna, a second-year student in Kalindi college in the capital, said,

"It is a very insensitive thing to do. How can you kill two endangered animals for dinner?"

"It is all the more upsetting when people you idolize stoop to such acts," she added.

"When you enjoy a special status in society you have to be more responsible," said Anju Yadav, copywriter in an advertising agency. "We don't want such role models."

"They should have behaved more responsibly. After all millions of people look up to them," added Sharmishtha Sanyal, a schoolteacher.

The Mumbai tinselworld, where Hindi films are churned out, is equally upset.

"These guys are really irresponsible. I don't know what exactly they have done but any delay in their arrival back could be a major financial blow to me," said a producer requesting anonymity.

Incidentally, the film that the actors were shooting for is produced by Rajshri Films, a well-known banner, whose last release "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" is the biggest grosser in Indian film history. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was in New Delhi, rushed back to the state capital after being informed about the filmstars' arrests, The Times of India reported. He held a high-level meeting of officials and sent a team of senior police officers and a ballistics expert to Jodhpur to begin investigations, the paper said. The team was accompanied by the state Forest Minister Jaswant Singh Bishnoi, who belongs to the Bishnoi community in the area. Interestingly, the autopsy report on the slain animals claimed that one black buck had died due to overeating, while the other had died of injuries suffered due to leaping, the paper said. The stars, on their part, claim that they had no hand in the killings. Meanwhile, the film unit has canceled shooting and returned to Mumbai.

They braved bullets to protect wildlife

Source: The Hindu

JAIPUR, Oct. 6

Upholding the tradition of the Bishnoi community in protecting wildlife, a group of Bishnois braved bullets from poachers at Samwatsar village near Nokha in Bikaner district this past week in an effort to save the lives of Indian gazelle.� One of them, Nihal Chand Bishnoi, who received bullets from the fleeing gang of suspected Bawria tribesmen, died on way to hospital. This incident, which revives memories of the brave people of Khejrali village in the Rajasthan desert, who sacrificed their lives protecting the trees hundreds of years back, took place on Thursday last. The tribesmen had already killed a gazelle, locally known as chinkara before they were chased by the Bishnois. In the encounter which followed the Bishnois also injured one of the poachers.

The situation however took an ugly turn when the police arrested five Bishnois even as the Bawrias managed to escape. The authorities released the Bishnois later when the agitated local people on Friday blocked rail traffic between Jodhpur and Bikaner at Nokha. It is pertinent to mention that Nokha is not far from Mukham, where the holiest of the Bishnoi shrines in the country is located. The land in the vicinity of the temple is declared by the authorities as a ``closed area'' meaning that hunting is legally banned here. This place, associated with the founder of this conservationist sect, Lord Jambeshwar, is revered by people of other religions as well.

Lord Jambeshwar, born in Pipasar in Nagaur district of Rajasthan five centuries ago had moved to Mukham to preach his new religion protecting trees and saving wildlife. He breathed his last at this place. Now a massive temple, without any idols _ as per the Bishnoi principles and tradition stands here. The place is also surrounded by a large variety of indigenous trees while antelope varities like chinkara and black buck roam the area. The place also has the Samrathal Dunes which are revered by the Bishnois for its association with the founder of the sect.

The Akhil Bharatiya Jeevan Raksha Bishnoi Sabha has expressed concern over the incident. The president of the Jaipur chapter of the Sabha, Mr. Darshan Kumar Bishnoi, said that the authorities were informed by members of the community some eight months back that the wildlife in the area was under threat from poachers but no action was taken. The WWF-Rajasthan has deployed its State committee member, Mr. Hanuman Singh Bishnoi, based at Keechen in Jodhpur to investigate the matter after visiting the hut of the `martyr', Mr. Nihal Chand, and to present a token of cash as immediate relief to his widow.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_492000/492484.stm

An animal-loving community in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan has gone on strike, a day after more than 20 gazelles and three peacocks were killed.

Authorities say an investigation into the incident has begun and, in preliminary action, five policemen have already been suspended.

The strike by the animal-loving Bishnoi community in Rajasthan's Churu district went off peacefully, according to the police.

The Bishnois surrounded the local police station on Wednesday, after more than 20 Indian gazelles and three peacocks were found dead near the village of Sansatwar in Rajasthan's Churu district.

Officials said the policemen were suspended for their alleged negligence in failing to prevent the killings.

Police say they suspect a local community, the Bavarias, to be responsible.

An environmentalist and a member of the state's wildlife advisory board, Harsh Vardhan, condemned the incident describing the killing as "very shameful".

Protected Species

The gazelle, which is listed as a state animal, and the peacock - India's national bird - are both protected under the National Wildlife Act with stiff penalties for those who violate the law. In the past few years, nearly 50 black buck deer, another protected species, have been killed in the same area. Last year, the alleged killing of some black bucks by an Indian movie star during a film shoot, led to a violent protest and legal action by environmentalists. They have since called for the boycott of the film which is due to be released soon. �The Bishnoi community is known for its love of nature. They have traditionally opposed the hunting and killing of animals, and many Bishnois have given their lives to save animals over hundreds of years. Environmentalists say it is ironic that, despite a long historical campaign in the region, the killing of animals still goes on.

Nature-Loving Indians Turn Poachers Into Prey

Source: New York Times

November 29, 1998 - KANKANI, India

So the legend goes, 363 nature-loving Bishnoi villagers had their heads lopped off in 1730 as they hugged their beloved trees. A local maharajah had sent his army to cut timber, and when a woman named Amrita Devi stood in their way, soldiers decapitated her and threatened to do the same to anyone else so bold. Hundreds of others then embraced the trees in a sequence of defiant sacrifice.

Until recently, this lore was little known outside the sandy scrub of the Rajasthan desert. Now, however, the Bishnoi have become national heroes in an ecological morality play that pits simple farmers against an Indian movie idol loathsomely playing against type. Shortly after midnight on Oct. 1, the people of Kankani were awakened by gunshots and, as is their custom, bolted out of bed to chase after yet another group of hunters. The desert is prime habitat for a small, lithe antelope known as the black buck.

"I saw their jeep race by, and my head filled up with anger," said Prahlad Ram, 68. "We all began to shout and scramble. They had already killed the bucks. These animals are sacred to us, and we consider their lives more important than even our own."

Two villagers on scooters got close enough to read the vehicle's license number. They also thought they recognized the driver as Salman Khan, a popular young actor who had been in the area making one of his mega-action, heavy-carnage movies.

"No man, no matter how powerful, should be above the law," said Choka Ram, 70, another village elder. "Had we caught him, we would have beaten him severely."

Beating is sometimes the preferred Bishnoi method of justice, though authorities have tried to convince the Bishnoi that punishment is better left to the courts. This is viewed skeptically in villages like Kankani. While the enforcement of Indian wildlife laws has been decidedly slack, the prosecution of alleged violators very often has been an outright sham.� That seemed to be the way the Salman Khan case was about to go. The state's chief veterinarian did a postmortem examination of two black bucks and found the cause of one death to be "overeating" while attributing the other to a mistimed leap.� The Bishnoi were outraged, which is usually of little import. This time, however, celebrity and status -- ordinarily so useful in pulling strings -- put the accused into a worse bind. Newspapers love to write about Khan, and the front-page publicity pressured wildlife officials to have the bucks re-examined. After further inspection, it was determined not only that the animals had suffered fatal bullet wounds but also that the state veterinarian was involved in a cover-up and subject to arrest.

"Salman Khan will be found guilty, I assure you," said M.N. Sonal, deputy chief of the wildlife division. "We have eyewitnesses. We have signed statements."

As details became public, Khan's macho, quick-draw persona, so riveting on film, seemed only revolting in real life. He came to symbolize the callous rich, people untroubled by conscience, who take pleasure in donning night-vision glasses and poaching endangered species like the Bengal tiger and Sarus crane. The movie star had been on two hunting expeditions the week before, said Sonal, citing witnesses' accounts. During one, female co-stars were said to have applauded giddily as the actor slit the throat of a wounded chinkara, an Indian gazelle. Then, back at the luxury hotel in Jodhpur, Sonal said, Khan awakened the kitchen staff, ordering chefs to slake his appetite with the forbidden meat. The actor was arrested on Oct. 12 and has steadfastly denied all the charges. At an initial hearing he seemed carefree, joking with friends and talking on his mobile phone. He did not appear to fear the possibility of one to seven years in prison.

"The statements made against my client are all open to question," said one of Khan's lawyers, Jagdeep Dhankar. "Either they have been made by people also accused of crimes with their own offenses to consider, or they have been made by the Bishnoi, people whose attraction to wildlife -- even worship of it -- twists their thinking."

In the meantime, as moviegoers developed second thoughts about Khan's active trigger finger, the Bishnoi, who are primarily grain farmers, were being hailed for the harmonious ways of their 500-year-old beliefs. One much-reprinted, old and grainy photo showed a Bishnoi woman purportedly breast-feeding an orphaned deer.

"Yes, such things have been known to happen," Prahlad Ram, the village elder, said of the picture. "Between us and the animals there is complete trust. Our teachings tell us that we must serve as protectors and nurturers of all living things."

Essentially Hindu, the Bishnoi are followers of Jhambaji, a 15th-century guru who honed his wisdom into 29 precepts. In the canon are common proscriptions against using intoxicants or eating meat. There are also rules commending bathing and meditation, and yet others instilling a rare reverence for living things that forbids even the breaking of a twig. In Bishnoi villages near Jodhpur, the homes often are red brick with ornate doors and grates that display relative prosperity. The elders complain that the next generation is insufficiently faithful to the 29 rules, but it is the young who are quickest to light out after hunters. Two years ago, one youth, Nihal Chand, was shot and killed while giving chase.

"He is now among our great martyrs," said Prahlad Ram.

"He is a true descendant of Amrita Devi and the others, who died with their arms around our great friends the trees."