The Economist - USA (2022-01-15)

The Economist January 15th 2022 Asia 31

O

ttersarecute,thisnoonecandeny.

Theyhavebigeyesandsnubsnouts

andpawsliketinyleedlehands.They

lookevencuterwhentheywearjaunty

hatsandtossfoodpelletsintotheir

mouthsasif theywerebarsnacks,like

Takechiyo,a petotterinJapan.Docu­

mentingTakechiyo’santicshasearned

hisownernearly230,000followerson

Instagram,a photo­sharingapp.

Takechiyo’sfamereflectsa craze

acrosseastandSouth­EastAsiaforkeep­

ingthecuddlycreaturesaspets.Enthusi­

astsinJapanvisitcaféswheretheypayto

cuddlethem;Indonesianownersparade

theirpetsaroundonleadsorgoswim­

mingwiththem,thensharetheirpic­

turesonline.Butthesejollyphotosmask

a tradethatisdoinga lotofdamage.Even

beforetheybecamefashionablecompan­

ionsforhumans,Asia’swildottersfaced

plentyofthreats.Theirhabitatsare

disappearing.Theyhavelongbeenhunt­

edfortheircoats,orculledbyfarmers

whowishtopreventthemfeastingon

fisheries.Thepettrade,whichbegan

pickingupintheearly2000sbutap­

pearedtoacceleratea fewyearsago,has

madethingsworse.Thenumbersofwild

Asiansmall­clawedottersandsmooth­

coatedotters,twospeciesthatarein

highestdemand,havedeclinedbyat

least30%inthethreedecadesto2019.

Theinternationalagreementthat

governstradeinwildlife,knownas

cites, nowprohibitscross­bordertrade

inthesespecies.Butlawsbanningown­

ershipareoftenpoorlyenforced,asin

Thailand,orriddledwithholes,asin

Indonesia.Andtheotter­keepingfadhas

beenturbochargedbytheinternet,says

VincentNijmanofOxfordBrookesUni­

versity.In 2017 traffic, a Britishcharity

thatmonitorsthewildlifetrade,spent

nearlyfivemonthslookingatFacebook

andothersocial­mediasitesinfive

South­EastAsiancountries.Duringthat

timeit foundaround1,000ottersad­

vertisedforsaleonline.

Inanycase,ottersdonotevenmake

particularlygoodpets.Everyyearthe

JakartaAnimalAidNetwork,a charityin

Indonesia’scapital,receivessometen

ottersfrompeoplewhohavestruggledto

lookafterthem.FaizulDuha,thefounder

ofanIndonesianotter­owners’group,

admitsthathistwoanimalsemita “very

specific”(read:fishy)smell.Theybite

humansandgnawatfurniture.Their

screechingcanbeheardblocksaway.

Andtheircagesneedcleaningevery

two­to­threehours.Thatishowoften

theyevacuatetheirbowels.

Wildlifetrafficking

Some like itotter

S INGAPORE

Demandforthecreaturesaspetsdrivesa harmfultrade

Otterfoolishness

a more concerted and wide­ranging offen­
sive.  Aside  from  the  headline­capturing
lynchings  of  suspected  cow­butchers  by
vigilante mobs that occur with dismal reg­
ularity  across  the  north  Indian  “Hindi
Belt”,  local  extremists  have  more  quietly
singled  out  Muslim­owned  businesses,
from street hawkers to large corporations,
for boycott and harassment. Internet trolls
regularly barrage prominent Muslims, par­
ticularly  women  and  journalists,  with  vi­
cious  insults.  Twice  in  the  past  year  they
have  created  spurious  online  “auctions”
for  the  sexual  favours  of  Muslim  women
who criticise the government, using stolen
photos and other web content. 
Reporters  recently  exposed  a  network
of  “trads”,  believers  so  ultra­traditional
that  they  dismiss  Narendra  Modi,  India’s
Hindu­nationalist  prime  minister,  as  a
maulana (Muslim  holy  man).  Their  chat
sites  feature  images  of  Hindus  urinating
on  Muslim  corpses,  and  of  altered  Nazi
propaganda  posters  that  exhort  Hindu
mothers to produce more “Aryan” children.
In  December  alone,  saffron­robed
speakers  at  religious  colloquiums  in  two
Indian  citiespublicly  called  on  Hindus  to
take up arms. Ram Balak Das, a monk from
the rural state of Chhattisgarh who claims
he  has  killed  people  to  protect  cows,
roused  his  audience  at  one  event  to  join
him in cries of “Shoot them, shoot them!”
At  the  other  meeting  Prabodhanand  Giri,
leader of the self­styled Hindu Raksha Se­
na or Hindu Defence Army, called on Hin­
dus to “cleanse” their country just as Myan­
mar  did—a  reference  to  the  latter’s  recent
genocide of Muslim Rohingyas.
In response to all this Mr Modi and his
Bharatiya  Janata  Party  (bjp)  have  main­
tained a telling silence. Under Mr Modi the
bjphas  increasingly  resorted  to  Muslim­
baiting  to  consolidate  Hindu  votes  that
tended  previously  to  divide  along  lines  of
caste or ideology. According to an informal
count by ndtv, a news channel reputed for
sobriety  amid  a  media  cacophony  of  par­
rots  and  propagandists,  the  bjphas  been
responsible for 297 out of 348 incidents of
hate  speech  by  senior  politicians since

2014. In the past four months the frequen­
cy of such outbursts has jumped 140%.
The approach of elections in five states
next  month  may  be  one  reason  why  the
party is turning up the heat. The bjpis anx­
ious to retain its hold on Uttar Pradesh, In­
dia’s  most  populous  state,  in  advance  of
the next general election in 2024. The par­
ty’s  saturation  advertising  has  included
blunt sectarian content, such as images of
Muslims as terrorists, or of opposition pol­
iticians  dressed  in  “Muslim”  garb.  In  one
speech  Yogi  Adityanath,  the  state’s  chief
minister (pictured, left, on previous page),
described  the  vote  as  being  “between  the
80% and the 20%”, a scarcely veiled refer­
ence  to  Uttar  Pradesh’s  actual  religious

mix. Amit Shah, India’s home minister and

Mr Modi’s right­hand man, has repeatedly

used slurs and insinuations to characterise

his  party’s  opponents  as  Muslims  or  pan­

derers to Muslims.

But the Modi government’s support for

sectarian  urges  goes  beyond  speech.  Mi­

norities  of  all  kinds  are  woefully  rare  in

central ministries, in security agencies and

in  bjp­led  local  governments.  Under  Mr

Modi the government has ceased reporting

such  statistics  as  the  religious  composi­

tion  of  police,  or  the  number  of  hate

crimes.  At  both  the  centre  and  in  states  it

rules,  the  bjp has  pushed  government

prosecutors  to  pursue  cases  against  Mus­

lims  accused  of  sectarian  troublemaking,

but has rarely shown any zeal with Hindus.

Speakers who incite violence openly boast

that  politicians  and  police  will  not  touch

them.  The  leading  group  that  sponsors

thousands of local vigilante squads which

frequently  target  minorities,  the  Vishva

Hindu Parishad is, like the bjpitself, a cre­

ation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,

or  rss,  the  “mother  ship”  of  the  broader

Hindu­nationalist movement.

In  the  short  term,  perhaps,  this  latest

lurch  towards  majoritarian  chauvinism

may  boost  the  rssand  win  a  few  more

votes  for  the  bjp.  But  the  loser  from  this

equation is not just theincreasingly fretful

fifth of Indians who happentoprofess oth­

er faiths. It is India itself.n