Elephant Rehab Or Religious Rift? Kolhapur Revolts After Mahadevi’s Move To Vantara

Transcript

00:00A controversy has erupted in Maharashtra's Kolapur over the transfer of an elephant to

00:03Vantara Animal Rescue Centre. NGO PETA went to the Bombay Haiku to request rehabilitation of

00:08an elephant named Madhuri or Mahadevi living in a Jain mutt in Nandini village of Shirol Daluka

00:13in Kolapur. Nandini happens to be an important place for Jains due to the centuries-old Jain

00:18mutt and is also the seat of the Bhattarakha Shri Jinnasena Swamiji. The Bhattarakhas are

00:22religious heads of Digambara Jains who have had an elephant for the last 600 years. PETA stated

00:27in their petition that the elephant who grew up in the mutt needs urgent medical care.

00:32Meanwhile, locals claimed that the elephant was well-liked and an essential part of the

00:36mutt's ceremonies. The Bombay High Court ordered the rehabilitation in July, a decision that was

00:40upheld by the Supreme Court. When the Vantara team arrived to rehabilitate the elephant, there was

00:45an outpour of sorrow among the people who even refused to let the vehicle move ahead. Eventually,

00:49the elephant was rehabilitated. However, the anger of the people had already taken its course.

00:54Reports suggest that the people of Shirol Daluka started to boycott Jio, a service provider

00:59owned by Reliance which also owns the Vantara Centre. The outrage against this move escalated

01:03so much that senior officials from Reliance and Vantara met with the Gajan Minister of Kolapur

01:08and Maharashtra's Health Minister, Prakash Abitkar, to discuss the possible return of Mahadevi

01:12of Maduri.