GUWAHATI: The BJP-led central government has backed the claims of the Tamil Nadu government that Joymala – the elephant from Assam – “is being taken care of”.
“Our beloved Joymala is now all hale and hearty. The present team is taking good care of the jumbo!” the union ministry of environment and forest tweeted on Wednesday.
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This endorsement of Tamil Nadu government’s stand on the Joymala issue by the central government came despite the Assam government knocking the doors of the Gauhati high court over the custody of the elephant.
Joymala was ‘tortured’ in a Tamil Nadu temple.
This step has been taken by the Assam government after an experts’ team from the state was not allowed to take stock of the condition that the elephant is living in.
Joymala, an elephant from Assam, which is now in the captivity at Srivilliputhur Andal Temple in Tamil Nadu, is at the centre of a major hullabaloo.
Joymala drew attention of the media after animal rights organization PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) posted a video that it claimed had been taken during a veterinary inspection of the elephant.
Also read: Assam government moves Gauhati high court over custody of elephant – Joymala
The PETA video claimed the elephant is being kept illegally at the temple. “Here, she is being beaten in the sacred sanctum sanctorum of Krishnan Kovil…In 2021, she was tied to a tree and beaten ruthlessly,” it said, with visuals of an elephant being beaten.
However, the Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the PETA video is FAKE.
The elephant Joymala is “absolutely doing good,” the Tamil Nadu government said.
A team of experts, including internationally acclaimed elephant doctor Padmashree (Dr) Kushal Konwar Sarma, from Assam rushed to Chennai to inspect the wellbeing of Joymala and the other captive elephants in the temples of Tamil Nadu and bring them back home.
Interestingly, the Assam team was not allowed to inspect Joymala and the other elephants.