Jamshedpur: Sendra Samiti assures peaceful hunting festival

Jamshedpur, May 6: The forest department’s drive to conserve wildlife by putting a ban on hunting and killing of wild animals, tribals have shown results with Sendra Samiti, Dalma and villagers declaring to celebrate their indigenous annual hunting festival scheduled on May 9 peacefully.

According to information, in meeting with the Dalma WildLife officials, the villagers and functionaries of Sendra Samiti agreed that the festival would be celebrated with religious discourses and activities like archery contests rather than hunting the wild animals.

Sources said that though some villagers are still adamant to go ahead with the age-old practice that involves hunting and killing of animals but forest department is hopeful that the festival would be ‘peaceful’ this time.

“We are hopeful that the tribals would wake up early in the morning and worship their deities but will not go ahead for hunting as the senior functionaries of the Sendra Samiti have assured us about their plans, “ said a forest officer.

It may be mentioned that every year, the forest department tries to educate villagers about the importance of wildlife and animals but still dozens of animals including deer, boar and wild buffaloes are killed during. Clad with hunting weapons like bows and arrows, they go into the jungle in search of animals by beating drums and chanting holy hymns.

Meanwhile, the forest department is geared up to stop the tribals from hunting wild animals. Eleven strategic locations have been identified where members of Eco Club and villagers would be deployed to convince the tribals not to go hunting.

“ We have been trained in a way to convince the tribals not to kill wild animals since their existence is important for a balanced environment. Some villagers are also supporting our cause,” Kashray Khudada, a member of the club.

The samiti would also appeal to all the tribal organisations in the next couple of days to not kill animals during Sendra but observe token rituals.

 “We are hopeful that the tribals would wake up early in the morning and worship their deities but will not go ahead for hunting as the senior functionaries of the Sendra Samiti have assured us about their plans, “noted an officer.

Meanwhile, the forest department is geared up to stop the tribals from hunting wild animals. Eleven strategic locations have been identified where members of Eco Club and villagers would be deployed to convince the tribals not to go hunting.