They steal food, have a certain destructive rapport, and sometimes they bite: rhesus monkeys are always climbing, jumping and running through New Delhi.
Animals are a big nuisance in India’s capital. In search of food, they destroy gardens and attack people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government tries everything monkeys and representatives do G20 Summit Don’t collide.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed German President Olaf Scholz at the G20 summit.
But since monkeys are revered in Hinduism, hunting them is questionable. So the authorities resort to strange methods to keep the rhesus monkeys away from the world’s most powerful government leaders.
▶︎ In the metropolitan area of New Delhi, where heads of state and government are staying with their delegations, officials have erected large cardboard figures of langur monkeys. This aggressive hunting monkey is one of the enemies of rhesus macaques. The sight of them is said to frighten rhesus monkeys.
▶︎ Around 40 specially trained monkey exterminators are also on duty. They imitate the sounds of the langurs and are supposed to make the rhesus monkeys back away. It is said that every hotel where the Head of State or the Head of State sleeps has this kind of monkey roaring sound.
▶︎ During the summit, officials feed rhesus monkeys in forest areas so that they stay there and do not enter the city of New Delhi.
“We cannot hurt or remove them. Our only option is to keep them in their own areas,” says councilor Satish Upadhyay.
Monkeys should not disturb G20 participants (Archive)
Slums visible to G20 participants were demolished
But the government is not the only one to take strict action against the monkeys. To ensure the summit goes as smoothly as possible, Modi also paralyzes New Delhi:
▶︎ Officials, offices, schools, banks and shops will be closed during the G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday. Goal: Less traffic and ease regular traffic congestion.
▶︎ The area with the G20 delegates’ hotels and conference center is strictly cordoned off by police barriers so that government leaders and their staff have as much free travel as possible.
▶︎ The city was beautified with thousands of floral decorations.
▶︎ Stray dogs have disappeared. Officials say they were caught and will be released later.
▶︎ Slums visible to G20 participants were demolished.
Indian Prime Minister Modi is using this summit to promote himself
Modi is using the G20 summit for ruthless self-PR. He wants to present himself to Indians as a successful leader on the world stage ahead of next year’s general elections. There isn’t a lamppost in New Delhi that doesn’t have a G20 poster with Modi’s portrait on it. He announced on television that he was able to bring the G20 summit to India for the first time.
What the campaign drummers are keeping quiet: The summit will tour all member states. Actually India would have been two years ago. But Modi prioritized Italy and Indonesia so that the summit in Delhi would be held directly before the general elections.
Indian authorities are taking action against monkeys in New Delhi
Modi is running for a national Hindu government. In the run-up to the G20 summit, he is fueling speculation that India’s name will be changed Bharat should be changed. During his inaugural address, he posed behind a placard that read “Bharat”. Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word for India, used as the name of the country along with India in the Constitution.
Radical Hindus are disturbed by the name India. The name was popularized by British colonial rulers and thus refers to slavery. On the other hand, “Bharat” is the name of a legendary king in the ancient Hindu Vedas.
Modi wants to erase memories of the colonial era as much as possible and relies on national pride. However, this study comes at the expense of minorities. Muslims and Christians are currently going through a tough time in the multi-faith country, despite the Hindu majority.
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