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Universal Message of Lord Mahāvīra
souls to the pursuit of maximising material wealth, a pursuit which is spiritually wrong and practically unattainable.” In the recent world we have seen disastrous consequences of degradation of nature and its agencies. We have experienced the chocking air pollution in Mexico, the deadly aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, the destruction of the rain forests in Brazil, the death of Swedish lake from acid rain, heavy pollution in the mighty rivers like the Ganges and the horror of the chemical disaster in Bhopal. Wherever we look, we see our planet as one in trouble.
Wild Life
Unrestricted hunting of animals for food, fur or fun is threatening the very existence of many species. The share of the birds, mammals, and fish vulnerable or in immediate danger of extinction is now estimated at 11 percent of the world's 8,615 bird species, 25 percent of the world's 4,355 mammal species, and 34 percent of all fish species. Smt. Maneka Gandhi, Hon'ble Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India expressed concern in her millennium message in the following words, “This past century has been the cruellest in history. Science was harnessed to business. Progress was measured by profits. We invented factory farming, battery cages, vivisection, mechanised slaughterhouses, marine parks, whaling and trawling. Billions of animals were slaughtered, mutilated, blinded, beaten and slaved.” According to Greenpeace magazine, the population of African elephants came down drastically from 15 lacs to just 6 lacs within a period of 10 years from 1981 to 1990. In October 1989, in an effort to stop the killing of elephants,
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