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| Sunday, 3 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Life with William William the Bird Rights activist by Carol Aloysius Ever since Hen and her chicks came into William's life, my Man Friday has become a crusader for Bird Rights - with special emphasis on 'Hen and Chick Rights'. He has also turned vegetarian. Gone are the days when he would help
himself liberally to a meal of chicken curry with enthusiasm. But Hen and
her brood have instilled in him a strong distaste for eating chicken or
meat in any form. "Kukul mas dakina vita mata mage kikili, kikili
pataw mathak veneva. Mage paramarthaya ahinsaka kukul mareema navaththala
kukul mas kaama valakvaganeema" (Chicken reminds me of my Hen and her
chicks. My goal now is to prevent people from killing innocent chickens
and eating their flesh), he tells me while cooking a vegetarian meal for
himself. True to his word William and his friends Pancha, Gamage, Dias, Piyasena and Simon, decided to launch an Awareness Raising Campaign on the ills of eating chicken. Working through the night in our garage, they made several placards prominently displaying pictures of Hen and her two baby chicks drawn by William and carrying the words, "If you are a chicken eater, take a look at this picture. How many innocent lives like these are you destroying just to satisfy a craving you can overcome?" The posters were then distributed among themselves and the ragged members of William's choristers who live down the lane, who readily pledged to support William's worthy cause for a fifty cents fee and an ice lolly. Each poster carried a different message on the same theme; "Ban chicken slaughter!", "Save the chickens!", "Shame on all chicken eaters!" "Chicken eaters will go to hell!". It was a cloudy Saturday last week, when William and his motley band of supporters took to the streets to accomplish their mission. Dressed in their best, and carrying their placards, their shouts of "Down with all chicken eaters!" drew several curious neighbours to the roadside, who gaped at them in amazement. The sound of their vocal protests however was out drowned by loud squawks of protest from Hen who accompanied them. Wearing a white paper collar which read "Please don't kill me for your food "Karunakarala mava kaamata maranna epa", she was carried by William who led the procession. To liven the 'show' William had also hit upon the idea of singing his special 'chicken lullabies' which he had composed for the baby chicks for whom he was surrogate father, and as soon joined by the others in the protest march. Their first stop was the Vipulasena Kopi Kade where Sarath the owner invited them to have some tea and to share their message with his usual crowd of tea drinkers. Grabbing the opportunity, William made an eloquent speech urging his audience to stop the slaughter of chickens by refraining from eating chicken. "When cattle are slaughtered for meat, people protest. So why not these innocent chickens who are dying in their thousands because of man's greed?", he asked in an impassioned plea to respect Bird Rights. His plea did not fall on deaf ears. So persuasive were his arguments that some of the Kopi Kade regulars joined in the protest campaign. By the time they arrived at their destination, the Mariakade market, William inspired by the unexpected support he had received, decided to stage a peaceful satyragraha outside the poultry stalls at the market. the bird activists squatted on the pavement outside the market, and remained there for the whole morning chanting slogans and occasionally getting up and giving an impassioned speech about Bird Rights. It was only when couple of policemen intervened and told them sternly to call off their protest, that the group disbanded and returned home. Man Friday now lives in the hope that it won't be long before eating chicken will be a thing of the past in this country. |
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