Amethi/Lucknow: The heartwarming story of Arif Khan Gurjar and the sarus crane is over -- and the bird's relocation to the wild has provoked Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav to take potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The crane that lived with Gurjar in Amethi district's Mandkha village, accompanied him to his fields and was accepted "like a family member" was on Tuesday taken away by forest department officials.
It was shifted to the Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Rae Bareli so that it could live in its "natural environment", an official said.
A YouTube video showed Gurjar placing the big bird in the back of a pick-up truck. He appeared to wipe away a tear as he walked away.
The YouTuber asked his subscribers to comment if the officials did a good thing "separating" them. But the department said Gurjar agreed with the decision.
"Whatever action has been taken is with Arif's consent," Divisional Forest Officer D N Singh said on Wednesday. The official said these birds always live in pairs. Since this one was living alone, there was some apprehension.
A day after the breakup, Gurjar appeared in Lucknow at a press conference by SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who asked indirectly if any official had the courage to take away the peacocks at the prime minister's residence.
Yadav didn't name him, but appeared to be referring to pictures posted online earlier by Modi, in which he seen feeding a peacock.
"If the (state) government is snatching the sarus, the government should also snatch the peacock from the one who was feeding grain to it," he said on Wednesday.
"Does the government have the courage to go there? Does any official have the courage to go there and bring it (the peacock) from there," he added.
Gurjar sat on the dais with the opposition leader, but didn't speak. The crane probably wouldn't have left the man on its own.
Last month, Gurjar told PTI, "This sarus is now like a family member. On a number of occasions, I left it in the fields to fly away to its own bird community but it refuses to leave me. It comes back to me every time."
Found the bird one year back
The man found the bird about a year back in his fields, lying unconscious with a bleeding leg.
He took it home, cleaned the wound and applied a mix of turmeric and mustard on it. Then he devised a splint out of bamboo to keep the leg stable.
But the crane refused to fly away even after it was well enough. Whenever Gurjar went out, it followed.
"I have not attended any family function in the last year because I just can't go anywhere. If it doesn't find me around, it becomes uncomfortable. If I have to go for some work, I need to dodge it. During the night, the bird sleeps by my cot on his one leg," Gurjar had then said.
In Lucknow, Yadav said it was because of the young man's humanity ("sewa bhav") that the crane became his friend.
"This is a subject of study how the sarus remained with him even after recovering," he said.
Yadav claimed that the bird was "snatched" from Gurjar because he had gone to meet and congratulate him.
He also recalled how a sarus research centre was "taken away" from his native Etawah district, arguing that the BJP government is not only against common people and farmers but also against trees and birds.
