Primates in peril
Since the early 20th century, Gendaria gained popularity in the city for hosting Sadhana Aushadhalaya -- the once-famed, now-fondly remembered ayurvedic pharmaceutical company.
There was another thing that got Gendaria's name on the map: its population of monkeys. Interestingly, the monkeys and Sadhana had a common beginning.
The primates of Gendaria dropped anchor in the area at the beginning of its reconstruction in the early years of the last century, when the then-British rulers started developing it as a residential hub.
The monkeys were such an ever-present part of the community that, in 1914, Sadhana founder Principal Jogesh Chandra Ghosh dedicated one of his rooms to the beloved apes. He used to feed them regularly too, and even a century later, Sadhana still keeps up this practice, albeit at a much narrower scope.
The fault is not Sadhana's -- one thing that's changed over these years is business itself. As demand for ayurvedic medicines has fallen, so has the company's capacity to accommodate the monkeys.
From their number in the thousands, their population has now dwindled to a meagre 100 to 150, according to local estimates. Shortage of food is the prime reason, which compels the primates to cross Sadhana's boundaries and plunder nearby houses in the neighbourhood.
And this is not a safe adventure. As the monkeys approach the houses, some people try to repeal them with force, with stories abound of throwing hot water or hitting them with heavy objects.
Besides this, some die by falling while jumping from roof to roof, while electrocution is a persistent cause of death as well.
Retired government official Manik Chandra Dey has been a resident of Gendaria for the last half a century. "There was once a time when they used to roam freely," he told this correspondent recently.
"Sadhana's medicines required molasses. Its smell drove the monkeys crazy, and they'd gather on the premises in numbers. Since Sadhana is no longer in its former glory, the monkeys aren't doing all that well either," he lamented.
According to the Asiatic Society's "Encyclopedia of Dhaka", Jogesh Chandra Ghosh -- a disciple of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray -- founded Sadhana after wrapping up his academic sojourns to Kolkata, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Beginning life as a small establishment, it turned into a full-fledged factory by 1917. It started expanding operations soon, opening up branches and securing agencies in then East Bengal, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China, Iran, England, the Philippines, and the US.
Tragically, during the Liberation War, Jogesh Chandra died at the hands of the Pakistani forces. This severely hampered Sadhana's operations and triggered its gradual decline.
Although Jogesh Chandra's successors tried to keep up the tradition, soon enough, their ration for the monkeys started falling. These days, the company can only provide 10kg of chickpeas every day, staffers said.
But of course, for all the monkeys here and those that
come over from neighbouring areas, this is not nearly enough.
Bhabatosh Dey has been working for Sadhana for close to two decades. "There aren't as many monkeys here anymore," he told The Daily Star.
"As there isn't enough food for them, they fight among themselves a lot. Some of them have migrated to other areas as well," he added. These areas include Lakshmibazar, Ray Shaheb Bazar, Tipu Sultan Road, Narinda, Banogram, Tantibazar, and Sutrapur, where other monkey communities can be found.
"In the past, people used to come to visit in the afternoon and feed the monkeys. This place almost felt like a zoo every afternoon. But even this has become rare since the pandemic," said Nazrul Islam, an Ansar member posted at Sadhana.
Out of concern, various socio-cultural organisations started to act.
Dhaka Youth Club International has been campaigning for the conservation of Old Dhaka's monkeys for some time, with demands for their safe habitation and food ration from the city corporation.
Talking to The Daily Star, general secretary Sohag Mohajon said, "We've been calling for their rehabilitation for a long time. We're asking for this to be done at Sadhana as well. All that's needed is enough food. If they get that from here, they won't feel the need to go outside."
"There was a time when the government had planned to shift them to a zoo. But they later decided against it, as a cage would be no substitute for their free movement out in the open," he said.
During the lockdown last May, socio-cultural organisation Sammilita Sangskritik Jote stepped up with bread, bananas, carrots, and cucumbers for the area's monkeys for two weeks.
President of the Jote Ghulam Quddus told The Daily Star, "We came in and saw the monkeys in a tragic state of desperation over food. Scattered everywhere, they all swooped in every time we brought in the food, showing how hungry they were."
"Amazingly, some locals stood by our side too, and what's best is that a lot of them took inspiration from this and kept up the practice long after we were done."
Jahangirnagar University's zoology department chair and wildlife researcher prof Monirul H Khan said most of Old Dhaka's monkeys are of the Rhesus Macaque species.
"Their numbers are on the decline mostly due to lack of food. In addition, people have started to become antagonistic towards them, which is why the instances of violence have increased. Electrocution is another prime reason for their decline in the age of urbanisation," he said.
"We have to ensure they have enough to eat, there's simply no other alternative," he said. "This has to come from both government and private initiatives. Simultaneously, people have to be made aware so that they stop attacking the monkeys."
Comments