So the latest story, that a wild pigeon was arrested in India on suspicion of 'spying' is not really a big surprise. It had been captured by a 14 year old boy, and defender of India's honour, near the village of Manwal, when he had spotted that it had an address and telephone number written on its tail, in what was apparently 'Pakistani' Urdu.
The Secret Message ... Not Hard To Decode. |
"Tehsil Shakargarh, district Narowal" it said. ..... Shakargarh Tehsil, is a city in the north-east of Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan, and it borders Jammu in India .....
He took it to the local police outpost, where the bird was put under armed guard after its arrest by India's finest, and a search indicated that it had been fitted with a 'wire like device'. The local police superintendent Rakesh Kaushal told reporters that "This is a rare instance of a bird from Pakistan being spotted here. We've caught a few spies here. Infiltration is quite common".
When the police superintendent was asked what animal spies would be doing infiltrating near the village of Manwal, he had a ready answer. Apparently the area around where 'the spy' (as the pigeon was now to be known as), was captured was "sensitive" because it was quite close to the regions 'power house city' of Jammu (views of which are available on Google maps).
Readers are reminded that India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers, with nuclear bombs pointed at each other, and are then asked to thank whatever higher power that you believe in, that you are not a citizen of either state. The Pakistanis regularly raid into India and shoot Indian soldiers, in acts calculated to stop just below the level required to trigger a war! In the meantime, so far the spy pigeon has not turned into a stool pigeon, and has remained locked up.
No Stool Pigeon Behind Bars .... |
Of course the smart money is that the Pakistani owner of a prize racing pigeon, is simply a fancier who lives in 'Shakargarh Tehsil', just across the border, and who can be contacted on the telephone number he has provided for that purpose.
I would have thought that the Asian Inspecteur Clouseau would have enough on his hands with all those minkey line-ups.
ReplyDeleteVery True ...
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