Jungli murga in dinner: Dharamsala NGO files complaint, demands registration of case

A Dharamsala-based environment protection and animal welfare NGO has filed a complaint with the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), North Zone, demanding a probe into an incident, the video of which has gone viral on social media, of a red junglefowl (jungli murga) being served in a dinner attended by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in the Tikkar area of the Chaupal Assembly constituency in Shimla district.

The president of the NGO, Dheeraj Mahajan, said, “It is shocking that a jungli murga was served in a dinner attended by the Chief Minister. The jungli murga is a protected bird under the Schedule-II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. What is more reprehensible is that the jungli murga was added to the menu of the dinner to be served to the Chief Minister. We have urged the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Dharamsala, to forward our complaint to the wildlife circle concerned for the registration of a case under the Wildlife Protection Act.”

Mahajan said that over the years, the population of red junglefowl had decreased. As a result, the bird was added on the Schedule-II of the Wildlife Protection Act. Earlier, it was protected under the Schedule-IV of the Wildlife Protection Act. The Forest Department was taking steps to protect the bird species but those in power were promoting its poaching and consumption. “We have demanded an inquiry into the matter and the registration of a case against the officials who had added jungli murga to the dinner menu of the Chief Minister and all those who relished it,” he added.

Mahajan said that the NGO may move court if the government did not take action in the matter. Meanwhile, BJP leaders flayed the Chief Minister over the issue. BJP general secretary Trilok Kapoor and state spokesperson of the party Sanjay Sharma, while talking to newsmen here, said that a case should be registered in the matter against those who poached and consumed the protected bird.