The attack on Shaktiman, the darling of the Uttarakhand mounted police, was not just cruelty to an animal. It was an assault on a symbol of state. There is no justification on the part of any of India’s agitating people to take their demonstrativeness to such inhuman levels. The fact that the agitator who wielded a stick to beat the horse is a member of the Legislative Assembly tells its own tale of how far our representatives have descended in the eyes of the very people whom they profess to represent.
At age 14, Shaktiman can be expected to do only symbolic duties like parades and crowd control, but the equine connection and man’s mastery of the majestic horse goes back centuries. The sensitive creature has been man’s companion in romantic circumstances as well as wars. Shaktiman has a mare as companion as well as two friends, and now he is maimed for life. He can hardly stand on his feet even if a prosthetic leg is designed for him. This is the greatest insult to a horse, which, because of inherited traits from a life in the wild, stands while sleeping too, ready to flee at the slightest hint of danger.
The severest action under the law must be taken against this MLA. He has been arrested, but he should not be allowed to get away lightly under the charge of cruelty to an animal, which may entail only a paltry fine.
