When a brave cop is killed by a wild animal

When a brave cop is killed by a wild animal - incredible opinions

Our awful politics has claimed yet another life of a brave cop, Shaktiman. A 13 year old, a well trained police horse, succumbed to his injuries and died on April 20.

Shaktiman was beaten brutally during a rally on March 14 when BJP protesters clashed against police in Dehradun. Ganesh Joshi, a BJP MLA from Mussoorie, was accused of beating Shaktiman and was later arrested on public uproar. Animal activists including PETA wanted Government to take strict action against him for assaulting an animal and that too on duty.

A video going viral on the internet shows that Mr. Ganesh Joshi is beating Shaktiman with a stick. He and his family is still claiming that he is falsely accused of beating Shaktiman and has nothing to do with his death. He also claimed that Congress has rather conspired against him with Shaktiman's death and if he is found guilty, he is ready to cut his own leg. Mr. Ganesh Joshi is currently out on bail. If his leg will bring back a brave cop of Uttrakhand Mounted Police, he should do it immediately.

Shaktiman was constantly beaten on his hind legs with a stick due to which his leg suffered multiple fractures. Later, he was given prosthetic leg by the doctors who operated on him and provided their best efforts to treat him. He was being treated at the police lines and some policemen and an animal rights activists from US, Jamie Vaughan, were looking after him. He didn't respond well to the treatment and lost his battle of life after fighting bravely for 37 days.
Mahatma Gandhi
What made BJP MLA to beat Shaktiman? Was Shaktiman responsible for not meeting or listening to BJP protesters' demands? Is there really no element of compassion when it comes to protesting? Was there no one else around when he was being beaten badly?

In a self-centered world, where most of us don't have time to think about fellow beings, it may be imprudent to even talk about animal rights. In India, Mr. Joshi who is out on bail after he was arrested that too on public outrage. Are the laws strict enough in India to spare animals from cruelty?

Let's have a look at what other cities of the world offer as penalties in animal cruelty cases:
Cities Penalty
New York, US Up to 5 years in prison and/or $5000 fine
Zurich, Switzerland Up to 3 years in prison
Cairo, Egypt Up to 3 years prison labor
Paris, France Up to 2 years in prison and $33,000 fine
Seoul, South Korea Up to 1 year in prison and/or a $8540 fine
Sydney, Australia Up to 6 months in prison and/or a $5500 fine
Moscow, Russia Up to 6 months in prison
Harare, Zimbabwe Up to 6 months in prison and/or a $200 fine

Needless to say, in our country, an MLA is still an MLA even after killing a horse on duty publicly and is out on bail.

These are the same people whom we elected to serve and protect us from any calamity with the use of power. Clearly, the power has been misused and the behaviour was far worse than an animal. It is indeed a prejudice to call the accused an animal because animals don't even attack anyone unless provoked or if they are unsecured.

Shaktiman died while performing his duty diligently and remained dignified even in his life and during his last days. On one hand, we teach our kids the stories of Chetak, the brave horse of Maharana Pratap and on the other hand, we watch a brave horse being killed.

Strict punishment is all we need with stricter laws against people who assault animals.