Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary, in Gujarat is making headlines because Amitabh Bachchan is promoting it, and some politicians are taking a dig at him for promoting ‘donkeys’.
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Gujarat tourism, and in the latest tourism video, he is seen inviting people to Gujarat’s Wild Ass Sanctuary.
While Mr. Bachchan is doing his job and the sanctuary itself is worth visiting (we will talk about it below), this ad has snowballed into a controversy.
Why?
Because Mr. Bachchan is promoting donkeys (Gadha in hindi). Donkeys are considered good-for-nothing creatures in India – brainless and only meant to work hard.
And because Mr. Bachchan is also from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), the U.P. chief minister doesn’t want embarrassment for himself and people of his state.
That is why, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav offered a free advice to the Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan: “Don’t advertise for the donkeys of Gujarat”.
“Ek gadhe ka vigyapan aata hai. Main iss sadi ke sabse bade mahanayak se kahunga ke ab aap Gujarat ke gadhon ka prachar mat kariye (There’s an ad on TV which shows donkeys. I appeal to century’s biggest star, please stop endorsing the donkeys of Gujarat),” said Akhilesh.
LMFAO Akhilesh Yadav suggests Amitabh Bachchan to stop endorsing the donkeys of Gujarat in ads. But why BJP calling it 'Modi's insult'? pic.twitter.com/ha5FiTZFFu
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) February 20, 2017
Its surprising that U.P. minister only chose to see the Asses, because Mr. Bachchan has also advertised for Gujarat Lions in the past.
Top things to know about the about the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary and donkeys of Gujarat:
- Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, also known as the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary, is located in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. Spread over almost 5000 sq.km, its the largest wildlife sanctuary in India.
- ‘Gujarat donkeys’ or the Indian wild ass were listed as ‘Near Threatened’ by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and that is why a sanctuary houses these donkeys. In the last century, these were found in various locations in India, but now are found only in Gujarat.
- The Indian wild ass is one of the fastest animals in India, and can run upto 70-80 km per hour. From a distance these almost look like horses.
- The ‘donkeys’, also known as ‘ghudkhur’ in Gujarati local language, are quite different from the African wild ass species, the Indian wild ass’ color varies from being sandy to reddish grey, fawn, to pale chestnut. From the back of the head to the neck the animal has a dark mane.
