DESAM against utilisation of pony as carriage puller
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, November 26 2022:
Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has strongly disapproved use of the unique Manipuri pony as puller of carriage/horse cart.
According to a DESAM statement, beginning utilisation of pony as carriage puller is not only akin to compromising the culture of pony preservation followed by the forefathers of the land since ancient period but it also lowers the cultural value of the indigenous Meetei people.
Such acts would not be able to save Manipuri pony but rather abate extinction of the rare animal associated with Manipur's culture and civilization.
DESAM desires compulsory incentives for pony rearers, establishment of pony sanctuary and feeding grounds, frequent holding of polo tournaments, imparting horse-riding skill to students and establishment of mount police as protection for Manipuri pony.
However, beginning utilisation of Manipuri pony which played a great role in saving Manipur's independence in the past in the technologically advanced 21st century as enslaved animal to pull carriage/horse cart with the idea of saving the rare animal from the money collected is unethical and irrelevant to Meetei culture.
As a stage has reached for pony owners to earn money by pulling cart to feed the animal, government should focus more on saving Manipuri pony by enhancing budget to save the rare species and fix a protocol for using pony.
State leaders should have the spirit of disallowing even the queen of United Kingdom from riding horse cart in the land and tell the world that using horse cart is irrelevant to Meetei society, the DESAM said.
While urging government to give more attention to avoid further exploitation of Manipuri pony and saving the animal, DESAM pointed out that even the Britishers never used horse cart in Manipur as it was irrelevant to Meetei culture and society and hence the present generation needs to develop such spirit.