After the video of Arif's visit to his friend the Sarus crane at the Kanpur Zoo went viral yesterday, BJP MP Varun Gandhi today pitched for the release of the bird.
Varun Gandhi shared Arif's viral video on Twitter with a caption that said that the bird should be given back to him. "Their love is pure. This beautiful bird is meant to fly freely and not to live in a cage," he tweeted in hindi pitching for its release. Give back the bird it's sky, freedom and friend."
The video shows Arif standing outside the bird's enclosure. The sarus, meanwhile, is seen jumping in excitement. The bird even spreads its wings and tries to find a way out.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav had also met Arif Khan after the bird was taken away from him. He had said that UP forest department action shows that BJP finds happiness by giving sorrow to others.
Arif and the Sarus Crane's friendship
The man had saved the bird when it was injured, and since then the two have been inseparable. The bird tagged along with Aarif wherever he went. Last month, forest department officials took the bird from Arif and shifted it to the Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Rae Bareli so that it could live in its "natural environment".
The UP Forest Department took the bird away from Arif on March 21, and currently, the bird is quarantined at the Kanpur zoo for 15 days.
Days after the sarus crane was shifted to Kanpur zoo, reports emerged that the bird was not eating food properly.
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