Once the Congress’s stronghold which it lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019, Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district, of late, has been in the news for a unique friendship between 30-year-old Mohammed Arif and a crane.
The bond between Arif — who hails from Mandka village in Jamo’s development block of Amethi — and the world’s largest flying bird was such that the crane ate from his plate and even hovered along as the man rode his bike.
The over year-long friendship, which began after Arif rescued the bird and treated her broken leg, however ended on Thursday afternoon after the forest department took away the crane. Officials said the bird — which is also UP’s state bird — belongs to the vulnerable category and hence cannot be kept in captivity.
“The Sarus crane is a wild bird. It is listed in Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and classified as vulnerable so it cannot be kept in captivity,” said Dev Nath Shah, divisional forest officer (DFO), Amethi, who was part of the team that visited Arif’s house to take custody of his dear friend.
Arif, a farmer, said he never imagined life without his friend who brought him into the limelight. “I found this bird in the fields. Her left leg was broken from the joint and hence I decided to bring her home. Though I am no expert, with the help of the internet and some friends who had a medical background, I managed to treat her and she was finally on her feet. I left her in the field but found her back again at my house as the bird was not ready to leave me. Since then, it lived with me. We never kept her in captivity,” recollects Arif who bid a teary adieu to his companion.
Elaborating on the bond between Arif and the giant bird, his family members said the crane would come home in the morning hours when Arif woke up and started the day with having breakfast from his plate. This was followed by lunch and dinner when Arif used to feed the crane like his child. “Imagining life without a friend is meaningless for Arif,” said Mohammed Noor, Arif’s friend.
Last month, a series of videos of Arif riding a bike while the crane flew with him took the internet by storm. Another video highlighted Arif having food with the bird while in one it showed the crane attacking a girl who stood close to Arif.
The videos made Arif, who also runs his YouTube channel, so popular in the area that people started visiting him. Recently, opposition leader and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav paid him a visit in order to capture a glimpse of the unique bond.
Commenting on the government’s decision to separate the friends, Yadav called it a deliberate move. In a tweet, the SP chief said the forest department took away the state bird from a person who nursed her in time of need. “Now, we have to see what action will be initiated against those who used to feed the national bird,” Yadav tweeted, taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s old video showing him feeding peacocks at his residence.
On Thursday, amid rumours that the bird had gone missing after being sent to the Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Rae Bareli, Yadav called the incident shameful. Calling the government’s “negligence” towards the state bird a serious matter, he warned the ruling Yogi Adityanath government to locate the crane or face an agitation by bird lovers.
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