GUWAHATI, India—In response to intense public pressure, the state government of Assam in northeast India has approved a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killing of over 30 rhinos by poachers in Assam since January 2007, the state's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on May 2.
The last week of April witnessed the slaughtering of two rhinos, one of them a calf, in Kaziranga National Park (KNP), which gives shelter to almost two-thirds of the total population of one-horned rhinos on Earth. A 2006 census showed the number of rhinos in the park is 1,855. These latest poachings raise the total to six this year at Kaziranga, which has witnessed the loss of 26 rhinos to poachers since January 2007.
"The poachers are equipped with sophisticated weapons. But our forest guards lack the proper arms to counter them," said park director Suren Buragohain.
Mr. Buragohain has weathered much criticism from wildlife advocates as the recent increase in rhino poaching has occurred during his tenure of nearly a year, which has coincided with the loss of the highest number of rhinos in a decade.
Concerned citizens, political party members, and the media in the region have joined in a collective outcry against the slaughtering of the endangered one-horn rhinos by poachers since early 2008, particularly at Kaziranga. However, until the announcement of the CBI probe, their protests had been met mostly with non-decisive action by high-level authorities.
On Feb. 24, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) organized a day-long town meeting at Kohora near the Kaziranga Park. The meeting was attended by several organizations pushing for a high level probe into the rhino poaching. They have argued that only a high-level probe would result in the capture of those ultimately responsible for the poachings.
Friends of Assam & Seven Sisters (FASS) issued a statement in March supporting the demand for a credible, high-level enquiry into the ongoing killings of the rhinos.
"We think volumes have been written and spoken about the ineffectiveness of the present measures to protect the rhinos in KNP and other sites. Now it is time to act. We urge for an immediate CBI investigation into the ongoing killings of rhinos, and take disciplinary actions against the officials and individuals responsible for the lack of protective actions," said Rajen Barua of FASS.
Speaking to this reporter from New York in March, Mr. Barua said, "Since the state government has failed miserably in its duties, the administration of the KNP should immediately be placed under military rule for the time being with strict orders to treat the poachers as terrorists. More over, a citizen's vigilance committee should be formed to monitor the situation on a regular basis in the national parks."
The slaughter of a one-horn rhino at Kaziranga on Feb. 5 led to a public uproar throughout the region. In response, Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain ordered to deployment of 100 additional armed guards to the park. The minister later said he had no reservations against a CBI enquiry into the poachings at the national parks of Assam.
Nava Thakuria is a freelance journalist based in Guwahati, northeast India, whose main interest is in socio-political developments of northeast India and neighboring Bhutan, Burma, and Bangladesh.
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