SOS: Elephants are not 'Party Animals'

9th December,Saturday, 2006: 18 Rajdoot Marg, Chanakyapuri, Delhi. The new french consul Philippe Martinet and his wife, Benedicte Alliot, welcomed theirguests into their new house with a live pink elephant. The elephant, standing in the narrow driveway of their new house, stood for more than four hours without water or feeding with his mahout perched on his head using his hooked stick to keep the animal from moving.The elephant and mahout waited with similar glassy expressions and drained eyes while the glittering guests wound their way into a manicured lawn to an open bar, loud dj's urging guests to the dance floor. In the open driveway, the elephant swayed morosely, while the unnatural pink dripped off it and tears from its eyes.Trapped by the noise and clamour of a diplomat's party, the avante garde decor of the party designed by Himanshu Verma was offset by the medeival cruelty of an elephant chained to circumstance and seemed to epitomise the violence of stereotyping orientalism, evenas two countries try to carve a future governed by the principles of progress and modernity.Many organisations in India and abroad who are 24x7 working for the eradication of the already existing abuses for elephants which are being used as toys for entertainment by human beings in India have condemned this act by the French Embassy.Among them is Ms. Suparna Baksi-Ganguly, Co-founder& Trustee, CUPA & WRRC who has been working for the welfare and rights of Elephants in India for several years.http://www.cupabangalore.orgJoin us in voicing for the destitute Gentle Giants of India who have been used and abused by human beings for centuries. Your signatures and emails shall go a long way to make these people understand and respect animals better.Our Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi ( Bapu ) had said, " The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals".