NEW DELHI: An Indian farmer whose extraordinary bond with a large bird made him a social media star has asked for his feathered friend to be set free after it was captured by wildlife authorities.
Mohammad Arif rescued the injured Sarus crane — a crimson-necked wetlands species that can grow up to 1.8 meters (six feet) in height — and nursed it back to health.
He set it free six weeks later, but the crane remained near his home in the city of Amethi, trailing the farmer when he went for bike rides and eating out of his hands.
“The bird would stay with its family during the day and return in the evenings. Or in the afternoons when it was hungry it would come and wait at our door,” Arif, 30, told AFP on Thursday.
Videos of the bird and his human guardian went viral on social media and Arif amassed nearly 300,000 Instagram followers by documenting their exploits.
Their remarkable friendship was rudely interrupted last month when authorities captured the crane and later brought it to a zoo in Kanpur, a city more than four hours’ drive away.
The crane is currently in a small quarantine cage, but Arif has asked for the bird — which he refers to simply as “friend” — to be released.
Arif went to visit the crane on Tuesday and video of their emotional reunion was shared online, with footage showing the bird flapping its wings excitedly and jumping up and down.
“The moment I reached the zoo, it recognized my voice,” said Arif. “It appeared quite distressed. Maybe it thought I will get him released from the prison.”
Media reports of the bird’s plight have led to an outpouring of sympathy from the Indian public, with nearly 4,000 people signing an online petition demanding the crane’s freedom.
“The crane committed no crime. Is being friendly with human beings a crime?” text accompanying the petition said.
The Sarus crane is the tallest flying bird in the world and is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Less than 20,000 of the species remain in India, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Arif said his friend should be released either into the forest or a bird sanctuary.
“It has never lived in a cage before, it has always lived free,” he said.
He was also confident the bird would return to his home.
“The moment they release it, it will come back to me,” he said.
Free bird: Indian man asks zoo for feathered friend’s release
https://arab.news/6haqx
Free bird: Indian man asks zoo for feathered friend’s release
- Mohammad Arif rescued the injured Sarus crane and nursed it back to health
- He set it free six weeks later, but the crane remained near his home in the city of Amethi, trailing the farmer when he went for bike rides and eating out of his hands
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
