When British Wanted To Relese  Monkey Of Shimla Abroad 

___ Dr. Pyar Singh Thakur

The issue of monkey menace in Shimla has been going on since the British era. A document from the Indian archives has revealed that the then British government had also talked about releasing the monkeys abroad. The British Indian government had started an exercise to get rid of the terror of monkeys in Shimla. The then Indian government had proposed to send monkeys to abroad, Gandhiji had opposed it. The government’s plan did not take off due to the fear of misuse by enemies of the monkeys. Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, is troubled by the terror of monkeys. Last year, the Central Environment Ministry had declared monkeys as destructive for one year. Also, one year’s time was given to kill these animals in non-forest areas. This plan could not take off but in the meantime, information also came to light that the exercise to deal with violent monkeys in the capital has been going on since the British era but till now no effective or universally accepted decision has been reached in this matter. In 1943, the then Government of India under the British rule had considered several measures to deal with the menace of monkeys in Shimla. This included a plan to export the monkeys to abroad but this plan was not implemented due to the fear of misuse of these monkeys by foreign countries. Even today, several decades after this incident, this problem remains the same in Shimla. However, a long time has passed since the monkeys were declared vermin in the city.
From the documents obtained from the National Archives of India, it was found that in the year 1943, the then Indian government had discussed the plan of killing the monkeys to get rid of the terror of monkeys but this discussion was stopped without reaching any conclusion. According to the documents, after this, there was a debate on the solution of catching the monkeys and releasing them abroad. It was the period of World War 2nd. In such a situation, there was a fear of misuse of monkeys by the enemies, so this plan was also banned. According to the records of the archives, at that time the British feared that the Germans also had a plan of biological warfare by spreading yellow fever in India through monkeys. In this 6-page document of January 1943, the then Union Home Ministry had also considered other ways of dealing with monkeys. In the making of any plan in this direction, the religious beliefs of Hindus also played an important role, where killing of monkeys is not considered appropriate. Therefore, the Home Ministry officials had to back out from their plan of killing monkeys. This document named ‘Elimination of Monkeys from Shimla’ also mentions Mahatma Gandhi’s article published in Harijan on the export of monkeys. It is written in it that Gandhiji considered the export of monkeys inhuman and he had also said that he would not allow even a single monkey to be sent abroad. Concerns have been raised about the terror of monkeys not only at the government level but also at the administrative level. It also cites the options of killing monkeys by other departments if needed. Apart from this, the documents also mention the option of releasing the monkeys in the forests. However, despite being a 77-year-old problem, the progress in this matter is still very slow. Let us tell you that last year, after the request of the State Government, the Central Hovernment had issued a notification and given one year’s time to the local authorities of Shimla to kill this violent animal in non-forest areas.
The State Government had sent a report to the Central Government that how the monkeys of the Rhesus Macaque species have increased a lot outside the forests and they are becoming a threat to agriculture as well as people’s life and property on a large scale. Although Rhesus Macaque monkeys are a protected species under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, but in case of danger, the law allows them to be hunted by declaring them violent for one year.