play videoplay video

Video duration 03 minutes 14 seconds 03:14

The Indian authorities released Hamama after an 8-month detention, on suspicion of her involvement in spying for China, which received a reaction of ridicule on social media.

India had arrested the pigeon last May near a port in Mumbai, after noticing two rings written in a Chinese-like language on its legs. It suspected it of involvement in espionage and sent it to a veterinary clinic.

India and China, the two largest countries on the Asian continent, are two nuclear powers with a border dispute in the Himalayan region, where the border extends 3,330 kilometers, which prompts each country to be wary of the other and fear that it will carry out espionage activities towards it.

After an investigation by the Indian authorities, it was found that the pigeon is a racing bird that lives in open waters in Taiwan. It made its way to India by mistake, and it does not pose a threat to Indian national security. It was transferred to the Bombay Animal Welfare Society, where it was released on Tuesday. the past.

Sarcastic comments

The news sparked sarcastic comments, some of which were monitored by the Shabakat program (1/4/2024), including what Mina Ramadan wrote: “A few seconds... I mean, they were interrogating her for 9 months?! And she wasn’t serving the length of her punishment or what exactly??”

As for Khaled Al-Rahif, he tweeted sarcastically, “A traitorous spy agent and claims to be a dove of peace!!,” while Bassem Prince’s account sarcastically said, “Zain did not pressure her and she confessed under torture.”

While an account in the name of Al-Mahrousa wrote, “If I were from China, I would bring a dove that looked like her and give her a popular reception and say that she was indeed a spy, and India failed to extract any information from her, and as soon as they released her, she returned to China.”

The most serious comment was what the Migrant Spectrum account wrote: “The institutions concerned with animal welfare and wildlife were supposed to file an indictment case against the team that accused her and imprisoned her pending investigation without any evidence.”

This was not the first time that the Indian authorities suspected a bird and considered it a spy. In 2022, the authorities of the Indian part of Kashmir released a pigeon owned by a Pakistani hunter that flew across the border and was found accompanied by a mysterious message, which was written in Urdu and contained a Pakistani phone number.

Another pigeon was caught in 2016, and a threatening letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found in its paw.

Source: Al Jazeera