The Laws of the Jungle
One of most quoted poems of Zehra
Nigah begins: ‘suna hai jungalon ka bhi koi dastur hota hai’- I have heard that jungles also have
established customs, and ends with a plea to God ‘mere is shahr
men ab jungalon hi ka koi qanun nafiz kar!’ - Impose some law of the jungle
in my city.
Today humanity reels from the
lawlessness and callousness of humans turning upon each other, as we face
endless wars and genocides, rising crime and economic exploitation.
The jungle is often used as a metaphor for
unruly lawless behaviour, even using the term urban jungle to reflect the chaos
of city life. Animals are said to have been created for the use of humans which
is often misinterpreted as an assumption that they are of less importance.
Humans have a very ambivalent
attitude to animals. Animals are hunted, tamed for humans, their habitats
destroyed, and many are bred for food or entertainment. Yet our children are taught moral lessons
through children’s stories, nursery rhymes, folk lore and fables depicting the
wisdom and skills of animals, perhaps because while human societal values
change, animal behaviour remains consistent.
The internet is flooded with videos of charming cute animals that get
millions of hits. Pets are loved and seen as family members. Animal qualities
are adopted by many societies – the soaring eagle, the strength and menace of a
panther, the longevity of the crane, the majesty of the lion. The boxer
Muhammad Ali moved like a butterfly and stung like a bee. A powerful man may be
described as a cheetah, a foolish one as an ullu ka patha - a baby owl.
Over the years scientists have
revealed the complexity and sophistication of non-human life. We share our
planet with 2.16 million species so far identified. At present there is only
one human species- homo sapiens, with eight earlier versions that are now
extinct. We share 90 percent of our DNA
with many animals, yet we feel far removed from them and infinitely
superior. The difference in DNA between
one human being and another is only 0.01 percent. Yet that 0.01 percent is
enough to divide people, create wars of unspeakable cruelty, make one race or
religion feel superior to the other, or make someone feel ostracized by a
family or social group.
Generations that have grown up with
National Geographic and David Attenborough, know well how ordered nature and
the animal world is. The animal kingdom is not a kind place, but its an ordered
space, a predictable space where animals behave as they are expected to. Animals learn to co-exist despite the danger
of predators, many even associating for mutual benefit such as the egret that picks
troublesome insects off the back of buffaloes. The most important lesson the
animal kingdom provides is the presence of the many invisible lines that maintain
the order of nature, and that are never crossed.
The interaction between
animals and humans has been a source of fascination. Rudyard Kipling’s The
Jungle Book and Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan, speculate on the nature of humans
brought up by animals in the wild. The fictional character Dr. Dolittle, can
talk to animals. Cartoons frequently anthropomorphise
animals, giving them human expressions and emotions, from Mickey Mouse to Nemo.
The 19th century Bengali
Kalighat paintings depicted babus, British Rulers and the middle classes
satirically as animals.
Apart from the more obvious
inventions such as the aeroplane inspired by birds, observing mosquitoes helped
develop painless needles, the mollusc, strong adhesives, the woodpecker made
airplane black boxes more shock resistant, humming birds inspired the design of
helicopters, observing whales improved turbine design, the iridescence in
butterfly wings helped develop the anti-counterfeiting stamps on banknotes.
Religions ask their
followers to observe animals to better understand God’s gifts to humans. ‘The
Case of the Animals versus Man’ written in 10th Century Iraq by the
mysterious Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al-Ṣafa), is a debate by a group of
talking animals who testify against humans, challenging their claim to
superiority in a session chaired by the ruler of the jinn.
Aristotle notes that
‘brutishness is a lesser thing than vice, even though it is more frightening’.
He says "At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from
law and justice, he is the worst."
Durriya Kazi
April 6, 2024
Karachi
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