Assam ‘unperturbed’ by boycott Kaziranga advisory to tourists
GUWAHATI : Kaziranga National Park, the largest habitat of endangered one-horned rhinos in the world, is the biggest draw among both domestic and foreign tourists visiting Assam.
Therefore, any call for tourist boycott of the park should be a matter of for the state. However, Assam’s BJP-led coalition is unperturbed by the advisory to tourists to stay away from Kaziranga. Survival International, a global NGO for tribal people’s rights, wrote to 131 tour operators in 10 countries last week urging them to boycott Kaziranga “till the park stops shooting people on sight”.
The call came following a BBC documentary Killing for Conservation aired last month, which tried to portray that forest guards in the park had been given license to kill people who appear to be a threat to wildlife.
Incidentally, the National Tiger Conservation Authority had asked the environment ministry last week to ban BBC from filming in forest areas of India for five years for “breach of trust” and “portraying of conservation efforts in India in negative light”.
“Our job is to protect rhinos and we will continue doing that by taking hard decisions,” Assam’s forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma told HT.
Meanwhile, resorts near the park feel the boycott call won’t affect business much.
“Foreigners comprise only around 30% of our total clients and they too are likely to take their own decisions rather than agreeing to an appeal ,” said Prashanta Sarma, general manager of Iora-The Retreat.
Wildlife experts and nature lovers termed the move a preplanned propaganda carried out with mala-fide intention.