Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister of State for Education Fauzia Khan has kicked off a controversy after her photos with trophies of hunted wildlife in a South African safari appeared in the website of the tour company.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena Opposition members today stalled the proceedings in the ongoing legislative session in Nagpur and even demanded her resignation over the issue. The opposition pointed out that hunting was illegal under Indian laws and demanded an inquiry into the matter.
The photos were taken some time ago during Khan’s visit to Umlilo Safaris, near Port Elizabeth in South Africa, which “with over 30 species of indigenous game, the Eastern Cape offers the greatest diversity and variety of plains game to be found in any one destination in Africa.” Unlike India where the Wildlife Protection Act has banned killing of any wildlife, South Africa allows hunting under strict laws.
Replying to the opposition, Khan said in defence that it was her personal family trip to South Africa with her husband and friends and that she had not broken any laws since hunting was not prohibited in that country. She also told a Marathi TV news channel that she herself did not kill any of the animals but was only photographed with the trophies. She also said she was a nature lover and believed in wildlife conservation.
However, a wildlife conservationist of Satpuda Foundation, Nishikant Kale, told Gulf News, “Hunting may be permitted and carried on in a scientific manner in some of the wildlife parks of Africa, but Khan holds the responsibility of a minister and a political leader in this state and should have refrained from indulging in such activities. Environmental and wildlife protection form the core value of our educational policy and such photos only send a wrong message to students and teachers.”
With rifle in hand, Khan is seen posing with hunted trophies of Blue and Black Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, Springbuck and Zebra, with some of the dead animals in a bloodied state.
Earlier, the Nationalist Congress Party minister’s name also cropped up in a controversy in the case of Abu Jundal, the Indian mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, since he had allegedly spent a day in a room belonging to Khan at the old legislator’s hostel near Mantralaya in 2006. Khan, who was a member of the legislative council then, had claimed that the allegations were untrue.
