IndoCarib
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As if Pakistans ambassador to India doesnt have enough challenges to deal with from Kashmir tensions to the trial of militants involved in the Mumbai attacks to improving trade relations now another tricky issue has emerged, and it comes in the unlikely form of a monkey named Bob.
Bob, or to use his full name, Bobby, was reportedly arrested last week after straying into Pakistan from India.
Bobby, astonishingly, hadnt even bothered to submit the necessary visa paperwork before his little cross-border trip, and now hes paying a heavy price for presuming that, as an animal, he was free to wander hither and thither however he chose. This lax approach to admin does little to dispel the stereotype that monkeys are irresponsible, or cheeky.
At least now, as he sits incarcerated in Bahawalpur Zoo in Pakistans Punjab province, Bobby has time to reflect on the errors of his ways, perhaps as he bounces a baseball off the wall of his cell, à la Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, though of course, being Indian, hed have a cricket ball.
Fortunately for the shackled simian, his plight hasnt gone unnoticed. The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations has written a letter to Shahid Malik, Pakistans ambassador to India, requesting that the monkey be released back into the wild.
On behalf of all our member organizations and thousands of supporters we urge you to kindly rehabilitate any trespassing animals in their natural environment and not in the pitiable prisons-zoo, the letter said, adding We really hope that you will consider our request and look [into] this issue beyond human territories defined and marked by Humans.
FIAPO, which describes itself as Indias largest umbrella body of organizations concerned with the protection and welfare of all animals, also put out a press release on the monkey matter, in which Arpan Sharma, the organizations convenor, said: We hope that the authorities will do the needful. Let the monkey be a messenger of peace & freedom and not of captivity & confinement.
A press official at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said he was unaware of FIAPOs letter. Later, after India Real Time forwarded a copy of the letter to the High Commission, spokesman Khalid Sarwar said the matter is being conveyed to the department of the Pakistan government that deals with animal protection issues.
Hopefully that department wont be sidetracked by the unconfirmed reports that a flock of birds has just drifted into Pakistani airspace and a trout has been spotted in the Indus River heading straight for the border.
Its not a one-way street when it comes to these wildlife arrests, if you can call catching an animal an arrest. India also, according to reports, took a pigeon into custody last year on suspicion of spying.
The pigeon was placed under armed guard and visitors, of course, were strictly forbidden.
Indian Animal Rights Group Asks Pakistan to Free Monkey - India Real Time - WSJ
Bob, or to use his full name, Bobby, was reportedly arrested last week after straying into Pakistan from India.
Bobby, astonishingly, hadnt even bothered to submit the necessary visa paperwork before his little cross-border trip, and now hes paying a heavy price for presuming that, as an animal, he was free to wander hither and thither however he chose. This lax approach to admin does little to dispel the stereotype that monkeys are irresponsible, or cheeky.
At least now, as he sits incarcerated in Bahawalpur Zoo in Pakistans Punjab province, Bobby has time to reflect on the errors of his ways, perhaps as he bounces a baseball off the wall of his cell, à la Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, though of course, being Indian, hed have a cricket ball.
Fortunately for the shackled simian, his plight hasnt gone unnoticed. The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations has written a letter to Shahid Malik, Pakistans ambassador to India, requesting that the monkey be released back into the wild.
On behalf of all our member organizations and thousands of supporters we urge you to kindly rehabilitate any trespassing animals in their natural environment and not in the pitiable prisons-zoo, the letter said, adding We really hope that you will consider our request and look [into] this issue beyond human territories defined and marked by Humans.
FIAPO, which describes itself as Indias largest umbrella body of organizations concerned with the protection and welfare of all animals, also put out a press release on the monkey matter, in which Arpan Sharma, the organizations convenor, said: We hope that the authorities will do the needful. Let the monkey be a messenger of peace & freedom and not of captivity & confinement.
A press official at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said he was unaware of FIAPOs letter. Later, after India Real Time forwarded a copy of the letter to the High Commission, spokesman Khalid Sarwar said the matter is being conveyed to the department of the Pakistan government that deals with animal protection issues.
Hopefully that department wont be sidetracked by the unconfirmed reports that a flock of birds has just drifted into Pakistani airspace and a trout has been spotted in the Indus River heading straight for the border.
Its not a one-way street when it comes to these wildlife arrests, if you can call catching an animal an arrest. India also, according to reports, took a pigeon into custody last year on suspicion of spying.
The pigeon was placed under armed guard and visitors, of course, were strictly forbidden.
Indian Animal Rights Group Asks Pakistan to Free Monkey - India Real Time - WSJ
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