‘Suna hai jangalon ka bhi koi dastoor howa kerta hai’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan celebrates World Animal Day with the rest of the world today, on October 4.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in his message on the day said, “The day draws our collective attention to the state of rights endowed on animals the world over.” He said the government would do its best to promote and protect the physical and psychological well being of animals in the country.

The PM said that the day provides an opportunity to ensure care for farm animals and to promote fortification of natural habitats of wild animals. He said that Pakistan is blessed with a diversified animal resource and the contribution of livestock to GDP, foreign exchange earnings and rural socioeconomic development of the country is significant.

According to a recent research conducted by Georgetown University, a society where animals do not have any rights also fails miserably to treat its citizens well, the PM said.

Pakistani poet and actor Anwar Maqsood recited the poem: “Suna hai jangalon ka bhi koi dastoor howa kerta hai.” He advocated that even animals in the jungle have a system of harmony and balance that was perhaps less savage then the state our nation was currently in. He ends with a prayer asking that God impose upon us the system of a jungle (implying that even that would be a miraculous improvement).

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.