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Dog and dogmatism

Published : Wednesday, 30 September, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 503
Chinmay Prasun Biswas
The dog is a very faithful and unquestionably loyal domestic animal. It is said that no other animal is more loyal to its master than the dog. To trace criminals and drug there is dog squad in police department in many countries because the dog has the keenest sense of smell. Whatever be the performance, office of the government entrusted with the duty of preventing corruption is sometimes called watchdog.

The dog has its place in literature also. Sharatchandra had a pet dog named Velu. In his short story Atithi (The Guest) a street dog has been very passionately portrayed. Behavioural difference between human beings and dogs has been described in a poem Superior and Inferior (Uttam and Adham, originally written by Sheikh Saadi, translated by Satyendra Nath Dutta). A dog bit the leg of a pedestrian which caused severe pain. His daughter rebuked him that he had also teeth, he could bite the dog. He replied that a dog can bite a man but is it fair for a man to bite a dog? The dog is also a hunter animal and guard of house.

Some dogs are wild and ferocious also. A terrible looking dog is the central character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's  The Hound of the Baskarabhilasa. Irrespective of rich and poor petting dogs at home is a luxury and also hobby in many countries. In many western houses pet is the only companion of an aged person. In many places of the world there are restaurants for dogs of rich people. Inversely, dog bite is the root cause of hydrophobia. Apart from all these a recent decision of North Korean president Kim Jong Un has placed dogs at the centre of discussion in world media.
 
Like people of many other countries of the world North Koreans were also fond of dogs. Rich people of the country kept dogs as a symbol of nobility and strolled on the streets with their dogs. Dog breeding was once a tradition on state television. In 2016, President Kim Jong Un presented a pair of skilled hunting dogs to South Korean President Moon Jae-in intending to convert everlasting enmity into permanent friendship between the two rival countries. But Kim's North Korea is now passing tough time. The country's current economy is at the lowest level during two decades and food crisis is severe. During such crisis North Koreans are being victims of a dictatorial decision of their president but finding no other alternative they have to accept it.

More than 25.5 million people live in North Korea. Recently The United Nations has reported that 80% people there are in serious need of food. China is an intimate supporter of North Korea. Pyongyang imports most of its food from China but due to corona pandemic North Korea has closed its border with China which has aggravated the situation. Moreover, North Korea suffered from several natural disasters last year. Recently this country has been hit by flood again which has damaged crops of about 1 million acres of land. 16,000 houses have been destroyed. Amid such circumstances President Kim has declared in a Politburo conference that he would not seek help from outside. He has decided to stand beside the victims with relief from his own funds assuring them of providing assistance from the country's reserve fund.

Though under serious food crisis President Kim is not at all interested to curb military budget. As per his version, common people meet their demand of food by rearing animals like cows, sheep, goats and pigs but in cities like Pyongyang rich people pet dogs at home. As an easy way to ease food crisis, in last July he has ordered to seize and kill dogs As per his version, the practice of petting dogs illegal and a punitive offence, a capitalist trend and a bourgeoisie stigma. As declared by President Kim there is no room for western culture and capitalist mentality in North Korea. Experts think that this idea is nothing but a mere dogma because there is no relation between food crisis and petting dogs with capitalism.  Political analysts are saying that President Kim is aiming at killing two birds with one stone. Food crisis may be slightly checked and public unrest may be partially balanced.  

North Koreans are now horrified at their president's horrid decision but authorities have already identified homes with pet dogs. Pet dogs are being snatched away from their owners. Ownership of the dogs is being confiscated and those are being taken under official control. Afterwards some dogs are being sent to the zoo but many others are being sold at restaurants for selling as meat. Incidentally, dog meat is eaten in China and Korea for centuries believing that it helps to cope with heat.
  

Dog meat has long been considered delicious among Koreans but that tradition is gradually decreasing. Even then, local farms raise around 1 million dogs every year to meet food-lovers' need. Many restaurants in North Korea serve only dog meat. People still keep dog meat at the top of their favourite menu. It is also known that traditionally North Koreans eat dog meat in summer and winter to increase physical and mental strength but as a consequence of presidential order both pet and street dogs are under trouble.

Different news agencies inform that owners of pet dogs are very much annoyed but nobody has the courage or way to protest openly. Interesting to remember that to meet serious food crisis in last century communist Chinese government declared different wild and domestic animals as livestock. Since then practice of eating meat of animals like bats and pangolins began in China. It is thought that diseases like SARS and  Covid19 originated from such unusual habit. At the beginning of this year China prohibited trade of dog and cat meat under worldwide pressure from animal protection groups. In spite of that  dog meat festival was arranged in Yulin city (Shaanxi province) of China causing death of thousands of dogs.  

In this connection a poem Ekti Moroger Kahini (Tale of a Cock) by Sukanta Bhattarchaya may be remembered. A hungry cock dreamt of huge food inside the palace of a rich man and always tried to enter into the palace but every time it was prevented. At last, one day he actually got place on the dining table of that rich man though not to eat food but as food. North Korean dogs are now facing the same fate due to presidential dogmatism. 
The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes




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