UPDATE: On Sunday 12/22/2013 There will be a twitter storm for Sunder that starts at 1pm PST, 4pm EST, 9pm UK that will go on for 24 hours... please stay tuned for details. And please figure our your local country/location times on the 22nd for starting.
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NOTICE: UPDATE: 12/19/2013 PM -PST - The situation for Sunder "may" have changed, the local politician Vinay Kore who "gifted" Sunder to the temple that is now abusing him, may block his (Sunder's) freedom. *MAY*.Â
Please START acting on the information provided in this section, expand this info section and start with contacting the media, via the links/contact info provided. Later we will (if all goes well) announce an accompanying twitter storm.Â
ACT NOW. For the background on Sunder, go to the bottom of this info section.Â
ACTION - do everything you can, but first get to the MEDIA
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ACTION NEEDED: 4 ways you can help
* Contacting the media,Â
* Email
* Write via twitter and facebook,Â
* and Sign the NEW PETA petition:
Via Media: Contacting the media is a *** very important action ***. We need to bring more attention to Sunders case. Sunder needs to be the face for all Temple Elephants.
Media contacts via Twitter: @timesofindia,
@SrBachchan (very popular, we need him to champion),
@TOIMumbaiNews, @MumbaiSMENews, @NewsinMumbai,@TravelNewsCabs, @ibn7mumbainews,@citynewsmumbai, @BBCIndia,
Media contacts via Facebook:Â https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia
Sample letter to media:
There is resistance to freeing Sunder, the beaten elephant at the Jyotiba temple, in Kolhapur from the man who gifted Sunder to the temple, Vinay Kore, an independent legislator from the area. Sunder's freedom from this nightmare now rests in the hands of the Bombay High Court to enforce its order. It is said Mr. Kore will allegedly hide the elephant so he cannot be moved. Sunder is one of many abused Temple Elephants. Please help to publicize Sunders case so he can be freed to a Sanctuary and to spread awareness of Temple Elephant abuse!
Via EMAIL: Below you will find a sample letter you can use for your email which you can personalize as you wish. Please ammend the sample letter accordingly with the respective names/titles of each official or set of officials.
Block summary of email addresses:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Minister of Environment and Forests, Jayanti Natrajan
email: [email protected]
Mr. Prithviraj Chavan,Chief Minister of Maharashtra State, email: [email protected]
Ms. Sunita Singh, Director of Ministry of Environment and Forests in India, email: [email protected]
Shri. S.W.H. NAQVI, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF) M. S. Nagpur, [email protected]
Shri M.K. Rao, Chief Conservator of Forests, [email protected]
Dr. V.K. Sinha, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Ecotourism and Wildlife Administration, [email protected]
Mr. S V Katkar and Shri. V.A. Bhosale, Assistant Conservator of Forest Wildlife One,
[email protected]
SAMPLE LETTER:
(subjectline)Please Release Sunder the Elephant to a Sanctuary Immediately
Dear Sirs and whom else it may concern,
I have been following the case of Sunder, the elephant and I observed that despite two orders from central and state authorities the forest department failed to act on it's own relocation order that was passed last year. The Bombay High Court, on December 10, 2013 directed PCCF to comply with the order to move Sunder from Jyotiba temple, in Kolhapur to a sanctuary.Â
As a concerned world citizen I have been anxious about Sunder’s well-being, having seen evidence of abuse, malnourishment and totally inadequate care by his Temple caretakers.
There are many concerned people like myself around the world who wish to see Sunder the elephant be moved to a sanctuary where he will be safe and well cared for.Â
I humbly request that the Maharashtra Forest Department please comply with the request of the Bombay High Court to release Sunder to a sanctuary. Until that time we will continue to agitate for his release and his legal right.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
(Your name)
(City. State, Country)
Via TWITTER and Facebook: You can tweet and write several Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities who have been campaigning for Sunder's release. Please tweet and write them to help get Sunder released to a Sanctuary. The celebrities are: Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Vivek Oberoi, Madhavan, Raveena Tandon, Arjun Rampal, Sunny Leone, Amrita Rao, Kartik Murali, Vishal Dadlani, Ayushmann Khurrana, Dino Morea, Jacqueline Fernandez, Celina Jaitly and Yaami Gautam, Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson.
Their twitter handles are: @SrBachchan, @TheJohnAbraham, @MadhuriDixit, @vivek_oberoi, @TandonRaveena, @rampalarjun, @Sunny_Leone_ ,@AmritaRao, @ayushmannk, @DinoMorea9, @Asli_Jacqueline, @CelinaJaitly, @YaamiOfficial, @kartikmurali, @VishalDadlani, @PaulMcCartney,Â
@PamelaDAnderson
Via Facebook:
Amitabh Bachchan:
https://www.facebook.com/AmitabhBachchan
John Abraham:Â https://www.facebook.com/TheRealJohnAbraham
Madhuri Dixit:
https://www.facebook.com/MadhuriDixitNene
Arjun Rampal:
https://www.facebook.com/RampalArjun
Sunny Leone:
https://www.facebook.com/sunnyleone
Amrita Rao:
https://www.facebook.com/Spotlight.AmritaRao
Jacqueline Fernandez:
https://www.facebook.com/AsliJacquelineFernandez
Paul McCartney:Â
https://www.facebook.com/PaulMcCartney
Pamela Anderson:Â
https://www.facebook.com/pamelaanderson
Please see below the link to the LATEST PETA petition (which everyone should sign) and video which shows the shocking beating and abuse of Sunder by his caretakers:
http://action.petaindia.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=111&ea.campaign.id=17165&utm_campaign=1205+Help+Sunder+Gain+Freedom+Action+Alert&utm_source=PETA+Text&utm_medium=Promo
BACKGROUND:Â
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Sunder is a 14 year old Elephant currently being housed in a small dark shed in Jyotiba temple, in Kolhapur, India. Upon inspection it was found that Sunder is underweight. His body is heavily scarred and there is a hole in his ear through which his mahout controls him with a bull hook. The Ministry of Environment and Forest ordered Sunders relocation a year ago, until the order was past for him to be moved to a sanctuary. Despite two orders from central and state authorities the forest department failed to act on it's own relocation order that was passed last year. The petition to relocate Sunder had then been presented to the Bombay High Court which ordered the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) (wildlife) to comply with the ministerial order passed in that matter last year and to submit a report to the court by December 23, 2013. But Sunder can't wait!! And worse, we can't trust that the PCCF will not comply for another year while letting Sunder continue to be abused.
