Survival International sticks to Kaziranga shooting exposure, blames BBC for retreating

By Our Correspondent
Guwahati, Nov 20,

A global tribal rights body, which appealed to the international community for boycotting the world famous Kaziranga National Park in central Assam alleging that atrocities by rangers were going on inside the forest reserve against the locals, reiterated its stand that wrongdoings continues in the abode of precious one-horned rhinoceros.
Notably, the issue was raised by a BBC report, which was aired last year, narrating that dozens of people were even murdered by the Kaziranga rangers on mere suspects inside the forest reserve.  BBC’s Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt reported that the Kaziranga protection forces had shot dead 106 people in 20 years and wounded many others, including a minor (Akash Orang) who was maimed for life.
The report eventually caused a storm of controversy across the country. The government retaliated by banning the BBC’s Natural
History Unit from filming in all Indian national parks and tiger reserves for five years. However, since the report was broadcast
exposing the facts internationally the number of killings in Kaziranga has dropped dramatically.
Lately the concerned BBC unit wrote to the Indian National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) expressing regret for the ‘adverse impact’ of the report titled ‘Killing for Conservation’. Earlier the NTCA complained that the report should have been submitted for obligatory previewing at the country’s foreign ministry in order to remove any deviations.
“Contrary to reports in the Indian media, the BBC letter has not cast any doubt whatsoever on the accuracy or truthfulness of the
investigation,” said Survival International. In a media statement issued by its director Stephen Corry, the tribal rights body asserted that the BBC has not actually admitted its Kaziranga shoot on sight exposé was wrong.
Corry also alleged that the BBC authority was trying to row back and had apologized just so it could start filming in Indian tiger reserves again. But by doing so it’s putting in the firing line the local people who bravely helped it expose the incredibly high number of unlawful killings in Kaziranga, added Corry asserting that ‘it has not said any of the report was wrong’.
Survival International also quoted local activist  Pranab Doley saying that it was simply a cowardly act by the Indian government and its agency NTCA. But by giving into the diktats of the NTCA, the  BBC authority has not only taken an anti-people stand but also failed to uphold the basic values of human rights and media ethics of righteous journalism,” added Doley.
This stance by the BBC has not only betrayed the trust of the violated communities but also given the opportunity to the conspiring agencies to blame the indigenous activists of misleading the acclaimed media outlet, asserted the activist,  who helped BBC News expose the extrajudicial executions adding that the BBC letter could put their lives at risk, as someone may use it wrongly to accuse them of defaming India’s reputation.