Essay : Cannibalism :

Cannibalism is a act of practice of human eating other humans. The term dervies from the Spanish name (caribales) for the Carib people, first encountered by Christopher Columbus. Care sgould be taked to distinguish among ritual cannibalism sanctioned by a cultural code,cannibalism by necessity occuring in extreme situations of famine, and cannibalism by mentally dissturbed persons.

Reliable firsthand accounts of the practice are comparatively rare, causing some to question whether full-blown cannibalism has exited. Most agree that the consumption of particular portions or oragns was a ritual means by which powers of witchcraft and sorcery might be exercised. The Aztecs apparently praticed cannibalism on large scale as part of the ritual of human sacrifice.

Nevertheless, archaeological research suggests that ancient societies did practice cannibalism, and it has been observed in Africa, North and South America, the South Pacific islands, and the West Indies. Widespread cannibalism is usually not found in state-level societies, which have the means to tax and control surplus labor.A minority of anthropologists, however, believe cannibalism emerged as a cultural response to chronic protein shortages.

Some of the best-documented examples of cannibalism have been based on the conditions that take place during widespread famines and on accounts of shipwrecked, marooned, or stranded groups of people who have gone for long periods without food. Two of the best-documented of many cases are the pioneer Donner party's isolation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the fall and winter of 1846–1847, and the crash of the Uruguayan rugby team in the Chilean Andes in October 1972. In these and other well-documented cases, it is unquestionable that the food acquired by means of cannibalism enabled some individuals to survive rather than starving to death.

The Fore tribe of the highlands of Papua New Guinea was investigated at length beginning in 1957 by D. Carleton Gajdusek, who won a Nobel prize in 1976 for his study of the neurological-degenerative disease kuru, which he determined was caused by human contact with infected human brain tissue. Among the Fore, the principal pattern of contact with infected human tissue was during the mortuary preparation associated with endocannibalistic consumption of dead kin. In 1979 William Arens challenged Gajdusek's explanation for the spread of kuru on the grounds that there were no direct observations of cannibalism in the Fore people.

Captain James Cook, the famous navigator, was killed in Hawai'i in 1779; it is strongly alleged that his body was ritually consumed.Sir John Franklin's lost polar expedition and the Donner Party are other examples of human cannibalism from the 1840s.On October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan rugby team flew across the Andes to play a game in Chile. The plane crashed near the border between Chile and Argentina. After several weeks of starvation and struggle for survival, the numerous survivors decided to eat the frozen bodies of the deceased in order to survive. They were rescued over two months later. See Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The 1993 film Alive tells the story of this ordeal. It has been reported by defectors and refugees that, at the height of the famine in the 1990's, cannibalism was sometimes practiced in North Korea.

The wide use of the Internet has highlighted that thousands of people harbor sexualized cannibalistic fantasies.In Hindu mythology, cannibals are usually forest-dwellers that refuse to join society and are known as Raksasa. However, there have also been Raksasas such as Ravana, said to be shape-shifting creatures. A number of high-profile cannibal cases have involved the eating of flesh in a sexual context. Albert Fish, who has been called America's Bogeyman, raped, murdered and ate a number of children during the 1920s. He claimed to have experienced immense sexual pleasure as a result. Recently noida case proved again that still cannibalism exist as the interrogations continue, further revelations prove that Surinder singh, confessed to cannibalism..he consumed the liver and other portions of the children’s bodies. Even in this case sexual arrestment included as in the confession servant also said that they were raped either when they are alive or dead.

Cannibalism throughout the world had largely been eradicated – until now.it has been reported that abortionists/midwives in China have eaten aborted babies in the belief that they will restore some degree of health (a variant of herbal medicine) and are reputed to be selling them for such purposes, it is not far fetched to believe that dead babies are being eaten as portrayed. It is known that aborted preborn babies are used for much experimental medical research and have been used in the manufacture of cosmetics. Aborted babies are for some facilities a commodity sold for profit.Creating rather a scope for modren cannibalism. Its the time when we the people have to work against such inhuman activites and take proper measures to eradicate such a inhuman pratice.

Lalith Sai

Courtesy : civilserviceindia.com