HARARE, Zimbabwe: Euphoric crowds have gathered in Zimbabwe’s capital to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power.
In a colorful gathering that even days ago would have drawn an immediate police crackdown, Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced.
Some had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in earlier this week and put Mugabe under house arrest, with the slogan: “Go, go, our general!!!” Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.
“It’s like Christmas,” said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.
The 93-year-old Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations that seek his exit with a veneer of dignity.
But he is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies, and the crowds in Harare on Saturday were making it clear the country was ready to move on without him.
Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingered in power — or if Mugabe’s longtime but recently fired deputy led a new government — people reveled in the rare chance to speak out.
The demonstrators, in an event approved by the military, hope a big turnout will speed up the official end of Mugabe’s rule, which is widely blamed for the collapse of an economy that was once one of Africa’s wealthiest.
Crowds gathered on main streets as cars honked their horns and people whistled and cheered, even as many continued to go about their daily business.
Veterans of the long liberation war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mugabe, took part, along with opposition activists who have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government.
At an intersection, a vendor held up a newspaper with the headline: “Mugabe cornered.”
One driver was so jubilant that he got out of his moving car and danced in front of it for a couple of minutes as the empty vehicle coasted slowly down a street lined with cheering crowds.
Some white Zimbabweans joined the crowd at Harare’s Freedom Square, also known as Robert Mugabe Square. Some whites and blacks hugged each other.
Zimbabweans march in Harare to demand Mugabe departure
Zimbabweans march in Harare to demand Mugabe departure
Indian state hunts wild elephant after 20 killed in rampage
- Attacks have been taking place in Jharkhand state since early January
- Deaths come amid increasing destruction of elephants’ natural habitat
NEW DELHI: A team of 100 forest and wildlife officers is on the hunt for a wild elephant that has killed at least 20 people in a days-long rampage in eastern India, officials said on Wednesday.
The elephant attacks have been taking place since early January in the Chaibasa and Kolhan forest areas of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand state, which is also home to the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve.
“Twenty people have lost their lives,” Aditya Narayan, divisional forest officer, Chaibasa, told Arab News. “This is unusual ... we have put the entire area on alert and asked the villagers not to step out unnecessarily. This is an alarming situation.”
Smitha Pankaj, chief forest conservator in the Singhbhum area, said the animal has not been sighted yet but it has been established that it is a bull in musth — a period of heightened testosterone and a known factor in aggressive behavior.
“This attack has happened when the testosterone level of elephants is at its peak. Besides that, people have also been agitating the elephant,” she said.
“I feel that it has crossed the Jharkhand border ... our team consisting of over 100 people is monitoring the situation.”
The rampage took place as human activity leads to the shrinking of the natural habitat of elephants. Settlements are encroaching on areas that once served as seasonal movement routes for elephant herds.
Rishikesh Singhdev, a forest rights activist, also attributed the attacks to deforestation and insufficient efforts to preserve the elephant population.
“In 2005, the government gave land to humans in the forests and, as a result, the human population in the jungle kept on increasing. It is believed that elephants do their movement on the route that their ancestors have walked. Elephants have killed people who fell on this route,” he said.
“Elephant food habitats have disappeared. This is the first elephant reserve forest in India, but no attempt is being made to preserve and secure the elephants.”
