Waiting for answers

Waiting for answers

— Arup Kumar Dutta

Public memory is proverbially short. Politicians and bureaucrats know this all too well and take full advantage to tide over temporary waves of protests over some issue or the other and continue with what they are best at, prevarication and procrastination. The simplest course is to bide their time till the protests die down and other issues of the moment hit the headlines, relegating an older issue to the dustbin of history. The result is that nothing tangible and abiding gets done to put in place a mechanism to actually tackle an issue. Inevitably, after a while, the issue raises its head again, and the vicious cycle recommences.Scores of examples of this phenomenon can be counted in a state like Assam, perhaps more than any other in India due to the lack of dynamic political leadership. The bane of floods and erosion have been the lot of the people of the two valleys since time immemorial, but these have been exacerbated during the post-independence period because of faulty planning, environmental degradation and inordinate growth in population. Nothing concrete has been achieved in the last half century to tackle the problem — thus we have the annual watery inundation, waves of protest, prevarication and procrastination.Illegal immigration has been a festering issue for many decades now, yet a permanent solution is yet to be had. Despite the sacrifice of thousands of martyrs during the six year old mass movement, our borders remain porous. Insurgency, and the bloodshed and death it carries in its wake, have been so long with us that we have almost become insensible to the pungent aura of mindless violence that prevail in the land. Even lesser thorns in the flesh, such as the severe water-logging in our metros during the monsoons, have become periodically recurrent, annual headlines.A few months back there was a spate of slaughter of rhinos. Now, poaching in rhinos for their horns is nothing new, and quite a few meet an untimely end in the hands of poachers every year. Yet the sheer number killed at the beginning of 2008 had abruptly roused the public conscience. The greatest impact had been made by the much publicized photograph of a mother rhino slowly bleeding to death, the poachers having cut off her horn when alive.And the public of Assam, so prone to mass hysteria, reacted with horror. Rallies were held all over the state to protest against continued poaching. Resolutions were passed; memorandums were submitted to the administration. Effigies were burnt. There were demands for political and bureaucratic heads to roll. There were calls for a CBI enquiry into the forest department-poacher nexus. The media joined in the protests, headlines were forged, umpteen editorials written.True to its colour, Dispur responded with temporary, cosmetic measures, not to try and bring about a permanent solution to the problem, but to tide over the temporary discomfiture brought about by its loss of face. Poaching was not its concern, powerful youth organizations such as the All Assam Students Union was! Equally important was to get the issue off newspapers and news-channels by assuaging the media. So home-guards, untrained in conservation, were temporarily sent to help out the field-personnel in spots like Kaziranga. Official panels to study the situation were formed, slight reshuffle in the forest-department was undertaken.And how well has Dispur succeeded! Within a couple of months poaching had become a non-issue with the general public, which had more important concerns such as inflation and urban pollution on its mind. Vocal activists became almost mute. Ironically, the numerous so called environmental NGOs, who had been expected to keep the issue alive in public memory, went into inexplicable hibernation. Journalists, being creatures of the moment, turned their attention to other issues. The result was that a couple of rhino deaths some months later did not even cause a minor dent in the public psyche.But concerned individuals, in Assam. India and abroad, are still waiting for answers. Killings, not only of the rhino, but also of other animal species in Assam, remain a perpetual threat. Venison is often available in rural markets in parts of Assam. The highly endangered river-dolphin, once found abundantly in the state, has almost disappeared. Poaching of not merely faunal, but also floral species is rampant. Has Dispur embarked on any concrete steps to tackle these problems? The truly forested area in the state, different from that shown on official maps and statistics, is being depleted every day. Does Dispur have a comprehensive afforestation, environmental and conservation policy?We do not know. For instance, given the fact that the administration never lets out unpalatable information unless it is pried out from it, the public is not aware of what concrete measures have been taken to stop poaching in animals in general and rhinos in particular. During the period of public hue and cry over rhino poaching, several sensible measures had been mooted. Does the administration agree with these suggestions and, if so, how far has it gone to translate them into reality?One important measure suggested was the creation of a special animal protection force to replace under-trained, over-aged and poorly equipped forest guards. I recall a newspaper report on the disclaimer by the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests that extremists were involved in rhino poaching in Assam. But I also recall another report by an international conservation agency which through its investigations had confirmed involvement of insurgents. The sad truth is that today forest guards have not only to tackle poachers using obsolete methods, but those armed and dangerous, including insurgents, as also highly motivated encroachers who are burrowing deep into the entrails of our forested areas and wildlife habitats.Thus, in the changed circumstances, only a well-trained and well-equipped paramilitary task force can confront the poachers and encroachers of our time. Is Dispur giving a thought to the creation of such a force? If special units can be raised to protect the denizens of Dispur, why cannot a similar thing be done to protect the denizens of the wilds, considered by many to be more important than the former? Another suggestion was to embark on a sustained eviction drive to rid our sanctuaries of illegal migrants. Is such a drive on the administration’s anvil?Those of us who love this state and its flora and fauna await answers from the administration as to what has been done on such suggestions. Despite the fact that poaching is not making headlines at the moment, the administration owes at least this much to make up for past sins of commission and omission. The forest department, for example, can issue a whitepaper on the measures undertaken by it and convey it to the public. The pertinent question is, will it?

Source: assamtribune editorial 21.06.08