Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran is a magnificent, 10.5 feet-tall celebrity tusker, with a fan following running into millions in Kerala. For several years now, the jumbo, popularly known as Raman, has been inaugurating the Thrissur Pooram festival, where thousands gather to catch a glimpse of him. However, the 54-year-old elephant is now at the centre of a political fight. While the district administration banned the elephant from being paraded during the Thrissur Pooram, a big temple festival, citing its violent nature and unfit medical condition, opposition groups, as well as the BJP, have been protesting to get the ban lifted.
Raman, who is blind in one eye, has been branded as one of the most violent elephants in the state. In the past two decades, the elephant has reportedly killed 13 people. The last incident involved the trampling of two people in Guruvayur in February 2019. It has also attacked fellow elephants, leading to the deaths of three tuskers.
Animal rights activists in the state have been protesting against the parading of Ramachandran, claiming he is medically unfit and partially blind and as a result, easily irritable and violent.
The Kerala High Court has previously banned Raman from being paraded at least six times in the past, the last ban being in 2016.
In March 2019 too, Kerala’s Chief Wildlife Warden issued an order banning Raman from being paraded at temple festivals. The temporary ban was placed after a five-member panel of medical experts examined the elephant and declared him medically unfit.
Based on a letter by a Forest Department official to the Thrissur District Collectorate, which cited the medical condition of the elephant, a decision was taken to not parade Raman during the 2019 Thrissur Pooram. But this decision, taken in view of the safety of crowds gathered during Pooram as well as the well-being of Raman, has not gone down too well with opposition groups in Thrissur.
The ban has snowballed into a political fight with the BJP demanding the lifting of the ban on the elephant, allowing it to be paraded. On May 6, BJP leaders in Thrissur staged a protest, which was inaugurated by Poonjar MLA PC George.
The Peramangalam Thechikkottukavu Bhagavathi temple in Thrissur, which owns the elephant, is under the CPI(M)-owned Thechikkotukkavu Devaswom. Following the ban, the Devaswom approached the Kerala High Court to revoke it.
On Friday, the High Court announced that it will not get involved in the issue around the lifting of the ban but will leave it to the District Collector to arrive at a decision.
Meanwhile, the Elephant Owner’s Federation, headed by President P Sasikumar, decided to withdraw all elephants from the Pooram to register their protest against the ban on Raman.
Through a Facebook post, the federation stated that from May 11, all elephants owned by them will be withdrawn from the festival. This move is likely to disrupt the Pooram which has several functions where temple elephants are paraded.
On Thursday, a closed-door meeting chaired by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and Agricultural Minister VS Sunil Kumar was held with the Elephant Owners Federation.
“The meeting went well and we hope to see a positive response from the government’s side in lifting the ban,” P Sasikumar told TNM.
When asked why the Federation insisted on parading an elephant which has killed 13 people, Sasikumar denied that the elephant had killed 13 people. “He has killed six to seven people, not 13. Not a single mahout has been killed by the elephant. If it is found that a mahout was killed, we will withdraw our protest,” Sasikumar added.
In 2009, Raman killed a 17-year-old boy during a temple festival in Palakkad, allegedly after firecrackers were thrown near the tusker. In 2013, the jumbo took the lives of three women during the Thaipooyam festival in Ernakulam. He even picked up an old woman with his trunk during a festival in Ernakulam and dropped her, killing her on the spot. Apart from this, he has also killed two assistant mahouts.
Regarding the partial blindness and medically unfit condition of the elephant, Sasikumar added, “If human beings have a problem with eyesight, will you stop doing your daily routine? It’s the same thing for elephants. They are also treated with medicines.”
A decision on revoking the ban is expected to be taken by the district committee along with the Collector on Friday.
In a meeting on Thursday, Thrissur District Collector TV Anupama stated that elephants will be paraded only after undergoing a medical test by vets. All elephants who are in musth, suffering from medical conditions, such as water retention, and those who get scared and run hearing the sound of fireworks will be banned from Thrissur town between May 11 and 14, she told the media on Thursday.