Was an Indian monkey currently being held in a Pakistani zoo after straying across the border part of 'an Indian-Zionist-US plot against the Islamic republic', a leading Pakistani daily questioned in a humorous editorial today.
The case of the monkey, given the name Bobby in some accounts, has been reported by both the Indian and Pakistani media since he was found in the desert region of Rahim Yar Khan on November 19.
The primate is being kept at the British-era Bahawalpur Zoo in Punjab province along with another monkey that crossed the Indian border a few months ago.
"Vigilance is the key when it comes to patrolling borders and our eagle-eyed (Pakistan) Rangers did not let us down last month when, showing valour in the face of grave danger, they cunningly nabbed a monkey that had strayed across into Pakistan from Indian territory," the Dawn newspaper said it its editorial titled 'Monkey Business'.
"So was this an Indian-Zionist-US plot against the Islamic republic? The zoo's curator, in a point scored for sanity, doesn't seem to think so," it said.
The curator 'feels that this 'common monkey' is not a trained spy and couldn't have been sent across the border for espionage purposes.
'But he also hastens to add that such monkeys cannot be released because they are 'usually naughty and can harm the civilian population' — as opposed to men in uniform, one presumes'.
The editorial said 'naughty monkeys are the last thing' Pakistan 'needs in these times of trouble on almost every conceivable front'.
The 'visa-less primate' had been locked up with 'several other monkeys, including a brother-in-arms who earlier also wandered across the border in the pursuit of possibly nefarious ends that would rock humanity'.
The Dawn suggested it would be good if the monkey was freed and repatriated.
"On a more sobering note this monkey, and others before it, have clearly not done anything wrong wittingly. Monkeys do not recognise international borders and the search for food can take them into territory that has been demarcated and carved out by men, not the forces of nature", the editorial said.
It noted that an Indian animal rights group has asked that the monkey be released back into the wild.
"That is not an unreasonable request and to oblige would be the right thing to do. This monkey needs to go home, the sooner the better," the editorial said.
Bahawalpur Zoo curator Irfan Farooqi told the media that India has a huge population of monkeys and the animals often head towards Pakistan when they are hungry.