People click photos outside Nishidi, a sacred place a few hundred metres from the Jain mutt in Nandini village, Kolhapur district in Maharashtra. The elephants of the mutt has been shifted to Gujarat.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Some members of the Jain Samaj and other residents took out a silent protest rally in Shedbal town in Belagavi district of Karnataka on August 7 demanding that return of Madhuri, an elephant that belonged to the Jain mutt at Nandani in Maharashtra. The elephant has been shifted to Vanatara wildlife centre in Gujarat.
They walked from the Sri Shanti Sagar Jain Ashram to the Sri Basavanna temple carrying posters and banners with images of the elephant, and placards with slogans — ‘Our elephant, our right‘ and ‘Madhuri come back home‘.
Members of some Hindu and Muslim organisations also joined the protest.
They held a meeting in front of the temple and submitted a memorandum to the government. Deputy Tahsildar Annasaheb Kore and Sub-inspector Raghavendra Khot received the memorandum addressed to the Union Government.
Protesters listened to speeches by some leaders before dispersing.
Raju Nandare said that devotees were upset at the allegation of torturing the elephant and ill-treating the animal. “If the government was worried about ill-treatment, it should have shifted the animal to a public rehabilitation centre or zoo, and not a private facility set by a corporate entity,” he said.
He also said that the mutt would not accept an offer by Vantara to set up a rehabilitation centre in Kolhapur, Maharashtra to keep the elephant. “Madhuri should be returned to the mutt. We will not accept anything less,” he said.
Praveen Kempawadi, Utkarsh Patil, B. M. Gani, Ajit Rajani, Sambha Nigam, Pallavi Narasgoudar, Shabbir Maniyar, and Baba Mistry were among those who participated in the protest.
Published – August 08, 2025 11:06 am IST
