India, Aug. 3 -- Sunday morning saw a protest at Gateway of India in Mumbai over pigeons and their right to co-exist with humans. The peaceful march from the Jain temple in Colaba to the national monument - where pigeons are part of the landscape - was only the latest chapter in a growing controversy over pigeon-feeding stations in the city.

It came a day after workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) covered a 'kabootarkhana' (pigeon spot/shelter) in Dadar by erecting a bamboo structure.

And it was almost exactly a month after pigeons - widely dubbed now as "rats of the avian world" for being disease carriers - came up in the Maharashtra legislative council.

The police have also been in on the action, having filed an FI...