Joymala’s tragic tale: Why Assam government has decided to take legal action against Tamil Nadu over an elephant

The Assam government has decided to take legal action against Tamil Nadu authorities – over the treatment of an elephant. The Assam government is set to move court after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has alleged that the pachyderm Joymala (also known as Jeymalyatha) is being mistreated at a temple in Tamil Nadu, the trust of which is managed by the government. Let’s take a closer look at Joymala’s tale, claims of mistreatment and what the respective state governments are claiming: Joymala’s tragic tale As per News18, Joymala was owned by an individual named Girin Moran from upper Assam’s Tinsukia. In 2011, Mohan sold Joymala to the Tamil Nadu temple through a middleman after getting approval from the forest department, as per News18. However, as per North East Now, Joymala was only temporarily leased to the Tamil Nadu government and has been forced to remain in captivity after the agreement expired in violation of the Wildlife Prevention Act, 1962. As per Indiatimes, PETA India has claimed that Joymala was illegally kept at the Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple for over a decade.

She is now at the nearby Krishnan Kovil temple.

Joymala is chained to the floor for nearly 16 hours a day and tortured with implements including pliers, the organisation claimed. The animal rights group claimed that the mahout even used pliers to painfully twist her skin to in front of its team that went to inspect her, they added. PETA India said her feet are ‘painfully infected’ since she is forced to spend most of her life on concrete.

PETA India’s latest exposé shows a new mahout using pliers to twist the skin of beaten and illegally held elephant Jeymalyatha.

Please help us #FreeElephantJeymalyatha now: https://t.co/Ecb0gVp48c pic.twitter.com/9dr0re4iv7

— PETA India (@PetaIndia) August 26, 2022

Another video purportedly shows Joymala’s handler attacking her with a stick. She was beaten so ruthlessly that she can be heard screaming in pain in a viral video," PETA India said in a statement, as per North East Now. Firstpost has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

This isn’t the first time a video showing Joymala purportedly being abused has gone viral.

As per NorthEast Now, a video showing Joymala being beaten at a rejuvenation camp surfaced in February 2021. The two mahouts involved in the incident were suspended by Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department and booked by the forest department under Rule 13 of the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011, and Section 51 of the WPA. “Intelligent and emotional elephants endure physical and psychological trauma in captivity for use in temple festivals, rides, circuses, and other spectacles, and in Jeymalyatha’s case, the cruelty has been caught on camera twice,” the outlet quoted PETA India chief advocacy officer Khushboo Gupta as saying. “PETA India urges temples to carry out rituals using palanquins, chariots, or life-like mechanical elephants and urge devotees to donate to genuine elephant sanctuaries, where these animals are permitted to live in the company of other elephants and kept free from chains,” Gupta said. What do the governments say?

The Assam government said the ball is in Tamil Nadu’s court.

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The Assam government is sending a forest department team to Tamil Nadu today to examine Joymala, as per North East Now. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, speaking to India Today NE, said the government would bring back every elephant sent from Assam to other states if it finds any evidence of cruelty being meted out to them. He also said that he is personally in touch with Tamil Nadu government. [caption id=“attachment_10592531” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma: ANI[/caption] “It’s not about just one elephant. Our government is committed towards rescuing other captive elephants from Assam if they are subjected to cruelty. But at the moment we are verifying the claims of cruelty,” Chief Minister Sarma told India Today NE in an exclusive conversation. Assam’s principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden MK Yadava told New Indian Express that Joymala could not be brought back to the state due to non-cooperation from the Tamil Nadu government, and that the Assam government has decided to take legal action. Yadava added that the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu, after more than a year of talks, had issued an order in April or May granting permission to take away Joymala. “However, the technical problem is that the Tamil Nadu forest department needs to take possession of the animal. It is only then that we can bring it. Otherwise, it will become a case of robbery,” Yadava was quoted as saying. “The Tamil Nadu government had requested us to bear all expenses. We said to share your bank account details and we will transfer Rs 5 lakh. We will subsequently make the full payment of all expenses required to secure the animal,” Yadava added.

The Tamil Nadu government manages the temple trust but despite the order, it has not released Joymala, he added.

“We are ready from our side to bring back the elephant,” Yadava said. The Madras High Court earlier directed the Tamil Nadu state government to form a policy on the ownership of elephants, as per North East Now. [caption id=“attachment_10527851” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Madras High Court: PTI[/caption] The court ordered that all elephants – privately owned or owned by a temple – come under the care of the forest department and that future private ownership of elephants must be prohibited. A sorry situation

Joymala is hardly alone in her predicament.

As per News18, touts saw an opportunity by twisting and bending rules prescribed in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. They, in cahoots with forest officials, first began leasing the elephants and then shifting them to Tamil Nadu where elephants are in high demand, as per the report. Speaking to News18, animal rights activist Mubina Akhtar said, “Not only Joymala, in the last 25 years, as many as 1,100 elephants were translocated in various temples of Tamil Nadu; after the Supreme Court ban on the felling of trees in 1996, owners found their pet elephants of no use as engaging them in carrying planks had ended." With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.