Kochi: With the continuing stray dog menace creating panic among public in Kerala, an artist Wednesday said he would stage a protest by taking 50 strays and playing music in front of Union Minister Maneka Gandhi's residence in Delhi.
According to artist Thrissur Nazeer, Gandhi is preventing local bodies in the state from taking action against the violent canines.
Nazeer, a Guinness Record holder for 40 hours non-stop mimicry and for playing 101 hours of continuous mouth organ, said he will take 50 stray dogs to the 14, Ashoka Road residence of the minister at the end of this month to stage a protest by playing music.
Nazeer said he has booked a 28-wheeler truck in which he would carry his musical instruments and stray dogs for staging the protest.
"Maneka Gandhi is preventing local bodies from taking action against stray dog menace in Kerala. She should see the plight of the poor children badly injured in the canine attack," Nazeer said, announcing his plan at a press meet here.
"I will serve good food to the stray dogs coming with me to meet Maneka Gandhi. They will not be starved. I will play music in major stops en route to New Delhi," he said.
Nazeer, who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Kozhikode constituency as an independent, said the people who oppose action against the stray dog menace, should bear expenses of treatment of those attacked by the canines.
"So I humbly pray that appropriate direction may be given to authorities to eliminate stray dogs with immediate effect and save poor people from their attacks," he said.
During 2014-15, some 1.06 lakh people in Kerala were bitten by dogs, according to the state government.
Six persons, including children, were bitten by rabies-infected canines in Ernakulam district this week.
The Kerala government has said it would take up at a Cabinet meeting to address the issue of stray dog menace, especially in Ernakulam district, where Presidents of Gram Panchayats had adopted a resolution in July proposing that the canines be "exported" to South Korea, China and the northeast where dog meat was in demand.