Environmental sciences taught in our universities is a total farce when it comes to guarding animal rights in terms of their ecological and aesthetic value. Most students and teachers refuse to acknowledge status of animals in an eco system
Notorious for constantly trampling human rights, the notion of animal rights is beyond the comprehension of a nation entrenched in immodest religious exhibitionism. The issue, however, is not prudence and entitlement with which we slaughter animals but a package that comes with it. Without any doubts or double checks, practically there is no such thing as animal rights in
In a country which is hugely inspired by religious connotations on its every nook and corner, it is important that this matter be discussed in terms of how religion has been treating animals. It would be a matter of minutes before someone might flash a few religious texts to claim how considerate it has been towards showing mercy for animals. But even the concept of mercy underlines deep violence against animals. With a huge list of animals considered haram [forbidden in Sharia] or makrooh [disliked in Sharia] eating, violence against animals just doesn’t end with slaughtering them. Pigs are not just haram they are considered as the filthiest ‘things’ to have been created in the world. A dog is widely believed to be ‘manhoos’ [ill omen] and keeping it would keep away the angles from entering the house. The rest which is termed as “halal” and can be killed for fun or eaten one way or the other is a God’s blessing to his mankind, hence the notion of exploiting nature as a privilege.
It is perhaps these sorts of demeaning contexts that are translated widely on several occasions most noticeably on Eid festivals. Where human beings are slaughtered on daily basis the idea of having a little mercy, perhaps modesty with slaughtering animals is usually guffawed at.
When it comes to purely academic terms my five years of studying environmental science has taught me one thing. That is, when it comes to Pakistan, just like scientific concepts of evolution, the ethical notions of the laws of the common land, ecological extension (which places all animals as equal to humans) and principals of utilitarianism are rendered useless before Islamic concepts of ‘ummat berhao’ [Increase the size of Ummah] and ‘ghost khao’ [eat meat]. It is no surprise that environmental sciences taught in our universities is a total farce when it comes to guarding animal rights in terms of their ecological and aesthetic value. Most students and teachers refuse to acknowledge status of animals in an eco system as co-living beings which are not just made for human consumption and utility and are quick to impart their own understanding, repugnant with religious underlines of what constitutes ‘animal rights’ in a customized local version of environmental ethics. Eventually, it all comes down to ‘western ethics’ (hence irreligious) which is alien to our minds overdosed on meat and religious duties they are bound (or better blessed?) to perform. We fail to pick commonsense, even in matters that are so painfully obvious to comprehend, like over eating meat, taking proper procedures to dispose carcass, or not feeling tempted enough to sacrifice three goats instead of ten with several different colors and shape.
Half of our older population might be suffering from cholesterol and other health related issues from over consumption of meat and food items prepared in most unhygienic conditions imaginable. Most of us would happily savor on soups made from left over chicken karhai in hotels but the importance of this word ‘food hygiene’ only creeps in when halal slaughtering is involved.
It doesn’t matter if the animal is kept in most unhygienic and cruel conditions, it doesn’t matter if it is suffering from malnutrition, endemic and parasitic diseases, our collective morality and knack for hygienic food will only suffer a ‘jhatka’ [unIslamic slaughter] when the meat is not halal. Where as, it is a scientifically acknowledged and well researched fact that waste from slaughter houses is one of the most serious causes of bad odors and health hazards in developed countries.
Perhaps it is time we spend a little less time on donkey and camel sex, and more on realizing one very basic (in fact childish) fact of nature that there are things out there (both living and non living) that wouldn’t render us as pig eating kafirs, if for once they are taken out of the box of God’s blessings and religious exhibitionism. Maybe just like the extinction of Dodos in early 1600’s and fast diminishing of resources, the formula of ‘ummat barhao aur ghost khao’ will only leave us with pigs and dogs to eat in the end.
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Mariam Goraya is an annoying liberal Fascist and a feminist whiner and has special interest in political satire, feminism, Indo-Pak history. She is studying Masters in Environmental Science in University of Cologne, she tweets at @MariamGoraya |
