|
'Pemarisudha
karipubhaya' pakelem: slaughter of the innocent?
By Priya Tuli
 I
was appalled to see the November 07 Jakarta Post article, that
announced the Bali sacrifice of over 79 animals including
rare species like deer, small antelopes and civet cats, by slaughter
or drowning. Apart from the fact that I am opposed to needless
slaughter, the fact is that more bloodshed, be it that
of other species, isn't going to change anything, far less cleanse
our beloved island of the bombings.
Even if these animals are not protected species, they are wild
animals.
True, animals are slaughtered for food every day. But this?
Born a Hindu myself, although I understand and accept that Balinese
Hinduism differs greatly in a lot of ways, I find it incomprehensible
that the Balinese, a largely gentle people, would actually willingly
cause trauma and death in this manner, to wild animals that
are anyway terrified of human beings. Being captured is
bad enough. Being surrounded by crowds of people in a religious
frenzy, and then slaughtered or drowned? It doesn't bear thinking
about.
I quote from the article: < "The 'pemarisudha karipubhaya'
is only carried out when there is a mass, violent death caused
by enemy attack," Brahmana scholar Ida Bagus Wijaya Kusuma said.
> end quote.
My question: who, then, will hold a 'pemarisudha karipubhaya'
for the mass, violent deaths of over 79 animals?
I have loved Bali since I first visited over a decade ago, and
have since visited countless times, and will always go
back. But the thought of this enormous sacrifice of innocent
creatures is unlikely, to my mind, to appease any Gods. On the
contrary, I do believe that needless suffering caused to the
innocent would, rather, invoke their wrath.
=============
|
