Why shouldn’t monkeys, nilgai and others demand elected representation?

It would not be out of place for some to surmise that it’s a jungle out there, when it comes to political arenas in the country these days. And the Delhi Assembly has been no exception, with things getting pretty wild occasionally with allegations of snakes in the grass and monkey business flying about.

Little wonder then that real snakes, not merely their purported political approximations, make themselves at home in the building until routinely evicted by the staff. It is even less surprising that a simian made an unexpected and energetic — but ultimately infructuous — intervention in a discussion on guest teachers in the assembly this week before making a hasty exit.

It may be recalled that last year, a month after a nilgai was apprehended wandering outside Parliament in May, a monkey appeared to have business in the lawmakers’ library in the high-security building but eventually only loitered without entering and left — significantly — by the VIP gate.

Given recent decisions by several state assemblies regarding the “management” of certain species of animals including monkeys and nilgai, it must be determined whether such incidents indicate they could be exploring the possibilities of participating in the democratic process or, at the very least, demanding representation before extermination, so to speak.