Our reptiles in your assembly, hiss snake charmers

The Orissa government will have to charm itself out of this one -- snake charmers in the state have threatened to release thousands of their slithering pets into the assembly if they are not allowed to continue with their traditional craft.

The Orissa government will have to charm itself out of this one -- snake charmers in the state have threatened to release thousands of their slithering pets into the assembly if they are not allowed to continue with their traditional craft.

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Reviving the age-old debate about animal rights versus human livelihood, the government has been arresting snake charmers and releasing their snakes, protected under the Wildlife Act, which makes catching and de-fanging the reptiles illegal.

But this has deprived thousands of snake charmers of their only means of livelihood.

"The action of forest and wildlife department officials has virtually forced us into starvation," said Chittaranjan Das, who belongs to the community of snake charmers in Padmakesharipur village near here.

"We take care of the snakes and earn our livelihood through them, just as officials do in zoos," Das told IANS.

There are an estimated 20,000 odd snake charmers in the state with 500 families living at Padmakesharipur alone.

"If the state government does not allow us to leave in peace, we will release all our 5,000 snakes into the assembly premises when the session begins on Dec 3. The government has to hear our grievances," said Das, adding that the raids on their premises and the arrests had gone up in the last few days.

But the wildlife department is determined to go ahead and implement the law.

"Most snake charmers use crude methods to de-fang the captured snakes. This reduces a snake's natural life span and makes them less resistant to diseases. This is illegal. We have to follow the law," a senior official said.

"It is the right time for snake charmers to look for alternative sources of livelihood," he suggested.