Coexist, give them fruits, not Frooti and samosas: Hema Malini on monkey menace

AGRA: Actor-turned-politician and BJP’s Mathura MP Hema Malini has blamed the visitors for the monkey menace in the Mathura-Vrindavan area, saying that they are “spoiling” the simians by feeding them “samosas and Frooti”. They should be given only fruits, she said, adding that “coexistence” is the key to resolving the issue.

“ Monkey kahan jayega? Problem kya hai ki yahan aane waale yaatri Frooti dete hain, samosa de de ke unko kharab kar diya. Unko sirf phal dijiye (Where will the monkey go? The problem is that the tourists who visit here give them Frooti and samosas. The monkeys are being spoiled. Give them only fruits,” she said replying to a query on the monkey menace in Vrindavan.

She also said that monkey menace exists even in the housing society where she has built a small house for herself.

In September last year, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had told reporters that people should recite Hanuman Chalisa among other sacred texts to deal with the monkey problem.

In 2014, Malini had listed “ending the monkey menace” as one of her priorities. In fact, she had mooted the idea of having a “monkey safari” in Mathura in order to deal with the simian menace. But the project did not take off on the ground.

Hema had told TOI that she has sent the proposal for the monkey safari, which is waiting for Union minister Maneka Gandhi’s approval.

“We will go according to what she says. We should respect her view,” Malini said.

Monkey menace in Brajbhumi, especially in Vrindavan and Govardhan, is turning out to be a major deterrent for the pilgrims. The incidents of monkey attacks have increased many-fold in the recent past; so has the simian population.

They also attack locals as well as pilgrims when they are very hungry. In Govardhan, monkeys at times make pilgrims virtually captive by holding both their legs together. The pilgrim is set free, only when the simian is offered food.

The strategy of catching the monkeys and releasing them at far off distance has not worked so far.

When former President Pranab Mukherjee visited the Bankey Bihari temple at Vrindavan in November 2014, he was brought to the temple in a covered cart to avoid monkey attack. According to sources, he was cautioned to be particularly careful about his spectacles.