Earth belongs to all

CHENNAI: There was no second thought about whose Earth it is, until recently. While we were so sure that it belongs to humans, suddenly the voices of conflicts were heard. Now, it has grown as a solid argument that humans and animals have equal right on mother earth. The debate at the British Council, titled Human Rights vs Animal Rights, was just an echo of this main contention.A part of series of programmes, organised by a group of youngsters, the debate was a platform of all ages from different walks of life to present their views and ideas as to how one can save the fauna of the world. Though the debate was planned to touch upon five different issues, every participant took it to his/her own direction, which the moderator needed to bring on the course.While the debate began with a point that people should adopt animals, someone hollered that the best thing is to leave the animals as they wish. The moderator pointed out that while India is the third best country that has better laws in terms of safety of animals, it leads the world with the highest rate of animal cruelty. When a school boy said that this could be according to the theory of survival of the fittest, a college girl retorted, “It is the most misunderstood concept in the history of science.”When the conference took up the tribal issues, another girl argued that tribes knew the animals better as they live closer to them. “We live in an urban jungle and know nothing about how these animals live,” he said. The moderator also brought out the issue of intrusion of elephants into villages and the Elephant Corridor along the Western Ghats. “We have blocked their way and constructed roads, railway tracks, tea estates and villages on the routes,” he said. The debate, which also touched upon non-vegetarianism and animal rights vs commercial broadcasting, ended with an appeal to spread awareness and sensitise people about animal rights.