Why Is Access to Camels Vital for Maharashtra’s Pastoralists and Farmers?
In this blog, Ilse, Ajinkya, Sajal and Hanwant argue for formally recognising camels as essential working animals for pastoral livelihoods and for facilitating their movement across state borders.
“Camels are vital for our migration and our livelihoods”, emphasises Mammu Rebari, a shepherd and continues “, We don’t want to, but in the future, we might have to move with bullock carts instead, if the situation does not change.”
Sitting at the edge of a talab in Sakhara village of Bhivapur Taluka about 40 km from Nagpur in Maharashtra, surrounded by eight camels that transport the belongings of the four families in his herding group, he is referring to the seizure of 32 camels and the FIR issued against two people from his community who had walked them from Anjar district in Kutch to replace old camels. The complainant is an animal welfare organisation that claims the camels were destined for slaughter and that it is cruel to make camels walk such long distances.
