Stop dolphin slaughter

Published by The Dhaka Tribune| 16 May 2020 ( Link Here )

Why we should not be hunting dolphins News headlines like “Dolphins are Back” and “Dolphins playing around on the coast of the Bay of Bengal” has certainly caught our attention in the recent times and offered us a reason to feel good amid the crisis situation. Some suggested that this is happening only because of the fact that the water pollution level is going down due to the current coronavirus situation. Arguments were also made to the contrary by some environmentalists that such reasoning is not backed by scientific evidence and a direct causal link with the coronavirus cannot be established. Standing at the crossroad, as we continued to argue over the reason “why the dolphins were playing around the coast,” some very upsetting news put a halt to the same. It has been reported in various media that in the last 18 days at least 25 dolphins were killed in Bangladesh. The people at large have expressed their sincere concerns and condemned the same with a heavy heart and deep compassion. Ironically, this news and the sympathy for dolphins did not also go unopposed. Many people ushered a line of argument to the effect that if we can catch fishes, slaughter cows, goats, and chickens, what is the issue with killing a dolphin? To be very honest, they certainly do have a point. Most people seemed to have become bewildered to be encountered with such a harsh, unorthodox yet a real question. The dolphin-lovers were really divided in their responses. Some replied that the dolphin is a beautiful animal, some said that dolphin is big and innocent, while some argued that as we do not usually eat dolphin, there is no use of unnecessarily killing them. So, the debate continued mostly from an ethical perspective, whether to kill a “beautiful and innocent” animal or not. Most of us are omnivores. As such the argument for not killing a dolphin based on the pure moral ground does not sound very convincing. We kill and eat many other animals, which are “beautiful and innocent.” In fact, in the first place, “beauty and innocence” of the animal should not have any material dominance over an argument based on morality — if you protest the killing of animals purely on moral grounds, you need to care for all animals alike. So, there must be some more reasons, something more tangible as to why we cannot kill dolphins. The Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012 is the governing legislation in this regard in Bangladesh. The act mainly aims to protect and preserve “wild species” and “endangered species” in Bangladesh. similar legislation around the world also has the same objective of protecting wild and endangered animals. This is why a domestic cow, goat, or a chicken may be killed while a wild and endangered variety of the same animal becomes protected. For a balanced eco-system, we should protect wild animals as they have a huge contribution to the environment and to our mother nature. Under Section 6 of the Act, it is stated that no person shall hunt any wild animal without a license or, as the case may be, obtaining a permit under this Act. Further schedules I and II of the Act, contain the list of those animals which are prohibited to hunt, and such animals include, for example, tigers, elephants, dolphins, cheetahs, crocodile, hoolocks, whales, etc. If one is found responsible for hunting any of these species, they shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years or compensation of Tk3 lakh or both. For the repetition of this act he shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years or a fine of Tk5 lakh or both, as stated in section nos. 36 and 37 of the Act. In our current remorseless struggle for survival, we must have realized how it feels and what it costs to fight for only “being alive.” We shall consider both the moral and pure legal aspects before killing a wild animal. They have the right to survive in this world and regrettably, they have not been fighting against the novel coronavirus or kind but against us, the humans. Certainly, it is the time to become a human, different from the one that we were born as.  Barrister Omar H Khan is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the Head of Chambers of Legal Counsel.