(IN): Media Mission Safeguards Indian Forest Minister Over Rhinos

[Guest guest]

Please note that the writer of this article below is also the present

secretary of the Guwahati Press Club.Azam.

--\

--\

------------------

Link:

http://www.interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/02100000aaa0099a.nb & \

Sys=zzn & Type=News & Filter=Front%20Page & Fid=FRONTPAG

 

Media Mission Safeguards Indian Forest Minister Over Rhinos

By Nava Thakuria

 

 

It may be vital for many to save the endangered rhinos in Assam's celebrated

parks, but for a section of media persons in Northeast, it seemingly becomes

more important to safeguard the forest minister. While wildlife lovers

around the globe rail against the authority of Kaziranga National Park for

its failure to protect one horn rhinos, a section of journalists in Guwahati

continue manufacturing stories glorifying the initiative of the State forest

minister.

 

Those journalists, representing national and inter-national news agencies,

tried their best to project a different picture where the minister has been

praised lavishly for his immediate actions against the poachers in

Kaziranga. But those stories really missed the public furies, local media's

concern and wildlife activities' sustained voices against the ongoing

poaching in the park, which had recently celebrated a hundred years of

success in preserving the precious inmates.

 

For the record, Kaziranga lost 20 rhinos during 2007 to poachers and it is

an all time high in the last decade. The new year began with more sad news.

Within the fifth week of 2008, four rhinos fell prey to the poachers in the

same park, which was long identified as a safe heaven for the rhinos. A

census in 1984 showed that Kaziranga, which was declared a National Park in

1974, had 1,080 rhinos. The number was found increasing up to 1069 in

another census during 1991. The census in 1999 provided more optimistic

result as the number of rhinos soared to 1,552. The last census in 2006

revealed the number of rhinos as high as 1,855 in the park. Amazingly

Kaziranga gives shelter to almost two third of the total population of one

horn rhinos on Earth.

 

The park normally loses 10 to 15 rhinos annually from natural causes and

poaching. Rhinos live an average of 40 years, and in the last 10 years 705

rhinos have died, only 71 of them lost to poachers (the rest died natural

deaths). In fact, the poaching of rhinos reduced in the last few years.

Statistics reveal that altogether only five rhinos were killed during 2006.

The previous year (2005) witnessed the slaughtering of seven rhinos. During

2004, four rhinos become victims of poaching. It was again less in 2003,

where poachers killed only three rhinos, four in 2002, eight in 2001, four

in 2000, four in 1999 and so on.

 

Called black ivory, the rhino horn is prized as an aphrodisiac and a cure

for many ills in traditional Oriental medicine, selling for thousands of

dollars per kilogram. A single horn can fetch as much as $40,000. Rising

incomes across Asia mean that demand for powdered rhino horn is on the

increase. And sophisticated poachers are ranging farther and farther to

fetch it although there is scant scientific evidence that powdered rhino

horn has any medicinal or sexual value.

 

But veterinarians, say that's nonsense. It is nothing but superstition. The

horns are nothing but compact masses of agglutinated hair and rhinos use

them for defense against other animals. There is no scientific analysis that

the rhino horn powder could stimulate human sex, said a Guwahati based

animal physician.

 

Even so, the rhinos are still being slaughtered for their horns. The

poachers use various methods to kill the giant animal. The easiest way

remains shooting it with guns (many times fitted with a silencer). There are

reports that the poachers often use telescopic rifles that can fire bullets

from a long distance. Sometimes, the poachers come inside the park during

the night (Kaziranga has no fencing or walls on the boundary) and dig a hole

on the path, which rhinos often use. One very interesting aspect of the

rhinos' habit is that the animal defecates at a particular place

continuously for many days. The poachers first identify the path littered

with the heap of dung and plan accordingly. In fewer occasions, high-tension

electric lines are also used to kill the pachyderm.

 

The park director Suren Buragohain argues all the time, " The poachers are

equipped with sophisticated weapons. But our forest guards lack the proper

arms to counter them. The park, he says, badly needs more guards with

advanced arms and ammunition. Incidentally, Buragohain earns brickbats from

the wildlife lovers as his tenure witnessed the rapid increase in rhino

poaching at Kaziranga. Statistics reveal that during his term (still to

cross 12 months) as the director, Kazirnaga lost the highest number of

rhinos in a decade.

 

As the director was clueless to the grave threats to rhino poaching in

Kaziranga, the State forest minister showed an equally insensitive and

callous approach to the issue. All the time, the young minsiter in Tarun

Gogoi's cabinet, preferred to ignore the matter. It finally compelled the

All Assam Students' Union, an influential students' organization in the

Northeast to come to the streets. AASU activists staged a State-wide

demonstration on February 2 to protest against the authority's failure in

protecting the rhinos. The venues included the offices of the forest

departments in all parts of Assam. The AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya

went on demanding the immediate resignation of Rockybul Hussain as the

forest minister of Assam 'for failing to take adequate steps to stop this

heinous crime against a national treasure'.

 

Earlier, the conscious citizens, political party members and media

editorials expressed their deep anguish against the continued slaughtering

of rhinos in Assam, particularly at Kaziranga, in the last few months. The

newspaper readers and television viewers had a shocking experience in

January, when they were exposed to a horrible visuals of a wounded rhino at

Kaziranga. The mother rhino had already lost her calf. Probably she tried in

vain to save her calf, which was killed by the poachers for its horn. Then

it was her turn to fall victim in a more tragic away. The poachers cut her

horn, when she was alive and took it away. For the nest two days the rhino

fought with death with her severe wounds on mouth and finally succumbed to

her injuries.

 

Meanwhile, an active NGO of the region came out with a strong allegation

that the autority itself was some how involved with the illegal trade of

rhino horns. Addressing the scribes at Guwahati Press Club on February 4,

Soumyadeep Datta, the director of Nature's Beckon argued that the forest

department of Assam has not preserved the rhino horns (with ivory and other

wildlife organs) in their custody. Nature's Beckon received some vital

information (regarding the number of rhino horns and other precious wildlife

organs) from the Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) of Assam exercising

the Right to Information Act 2005.

 

As the CCF (Wildlife) MC Malakar informed that only 1498 horns are being

preserved in the custody of the forest department till date, Soumyadeep

Datta claims that it was too less. He revealed, " We have authentic

information that till 1972 Assam forest department used to sell the rhino

horns. We suspect, the department continued to sell rhino horns even after

1972, the year the government of India prohibited hunting of wildlife and

their trade by enacting laws.

 

Poaching is a punishable offence in India with 7 years imprisonment. India

is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

since 1976 and hence bound by all its efforts to eliminate International

trade in wildlife and wildlife parts, discloses Mr Datta. He added, " We

suspect that a large share of the wildlife parts, which are being sold in

the international markets every year, make their way from the forest

department's stock due to the manipulations and corrupt practices of some of

the dishonest forest officials. " Hence we demand a Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI) probe to examine the entire issue of poaching and

illegal wildlife organ (like rhino horn, ivory, skin of tiger and leopard)

trading, stated Mr Datta.

 

But all the hue and cries of the concerned people of the region were not

taken into consideration by a section of news agency reporters in Guwahati,

who continued reporting the version of the authority and the forest

minister. Taking his cue from the last incidence of rhino killing at

Kaziranga on February 5, one senior reporter had gone to such extent of

reporting, where he described the forest minister as seeking a CBI enquiry

into the matter. The New Delhi based news agency, IANS on February 5

(contributed by a Guwahati based reporter) described - " We want a CBI to

investigate the sudden increase in rhino poaching incidents at Kaziranga, "

Assam Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain told journalists.

 

The question should have been aroused in his conscience, whether a minister

has the moral right to seek an enquiry into his own ministry (not even after

his resignation)? Will it simply not signify that the minister has no

control on the authorities under his ministry (and so a useless minister)?

Surprisingly, the reporter missed these vital points and parroted the

version of the forest minister, maybe because of his ignorance. But in

reality, the minister expressed his version as 'we have no reservation

against a CBI enquiry into the matter of increasing cases of rhino poaching'

in Kaziranga. Facing the heat, the forest minister also rushed to Kaziranga

on February 6 to take stock of the situation.

 

Similarly, the Guwahati based reporter of AP, tried to paint a rosy picture

of Rockybul Hussain, while narrating that the authorities at Kaziranga

deployed 100 armed guards to check the poachers. It quoted the minister as

saying, " We are alarmed at the seemingly organized poaching by gangs at the

Kaziranga National Park. " Also added in the February 6 news, " We have

decided to rush 100 armed guards to Kaziranga and to equip the existing

forest guards with 200 better rifles to match weapons used by the poachers. "

In reality, the news depicted the forest minister in such a way that nobody

needs to worry about the poaching of rhinos, while Rockybul Hussain

continues to be a minister.

 

Amazingly the news agency, based in New York, avoided the public furies

against the forest department as well as the minister cleverly. Talking

about the particular news item, released by AP and d by a number of

international media outlets, a serious reader may find it as a cleverly

moulded piece by an experienced (and loyal) public relations official on

behalf of his master. But if a journalist turns into PR personnel in their

approach, a child in today's world can understand that it was not without

any personal and hefty gain.

 

A legitimate question that might arise here, whether a reporter has the

right (under the Indian constitutional provision) to project a development

with his very personal point of view that could even degrade the entire

episode of saving the endangered rhinos to safeguard the minister of Assam

from brickbats?

 

Nava Thakuria is an independent journalist based in Guwahati, Northeast

India, whose main interest is in socio-political developments of Northeast

India and neighbouring Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh.

 

 

--

United against elephant polo

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com