Indian Bureaucrats Dairy – An Indian Bureaucrat's Diary

Haryana ex-DGP S P S Rathore Convicted

Binoy Gupta — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:07:52 +0000

It took the legal system 19 years and 400 hearings

to convict and sentence the former DGP to 6

months imprisonment and fine of Rs. 1000 for

molesting a teen……..who was driven to commit

suicide

S S Rathore, (who retired as Director General of Police, Haryana) then a senior police officer and President of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association molested Ruchika Girhotra, a 14-year-old tennis player in August 1990. She committed suicide in 1993.The following is the sequence of events:

AUG 11, 1990
S S Rathore, then Deputy Inspector General of Police, Haryana and President of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association visits Ruchika Girhotra’s house at noon.
He persuades her father, S C Girhotra, a bank manager, not to send Ruchika to Canada.
Promises special training for the teenager.
Asks her father to tell Ruchika to visit his office-cum residence the next day.

AUG 12, 1990
Ruchika and her friend Aradhana visit Rathore’s office-cum-residence in Panchkula (10 km from Chandigarh).
Rathore asks Aradhana to fetch the coach.
Aradhana returns to find Rathore molesting Ruchika.
On seeing her, Rathore lets go Ruchika, who rushes out of the room.
Rathore asks Aradhana to talk to Ruchika and that “he would do whatever she would say”.
Considering Rathore’s powerful position, the two teen age girls decide not to talk about the incident to their parents,

AUG 14, 1990
Ruchika and Aradhana go to the tennis court.
Rathore calls Ruchika again to his office.
This time, the girls decide to share it with the parents.
Ruchika confides in Aradhana’s mother, Madhu Parkash.

AUG 15, 1990
Both families, along with parents of other trainees of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association hand over a written complaint to Home Secretary J S Duggal.
The Chief Minister marks it to then DGP R R Singh.

AUG 26, 1990
The DGP summons Rathore.
In retaliation, Rathore arranges 45-50 hoodlums who raise slogans against Ruchika and smash the window panes of her house.

SEPT 3, 1990
DGP’s report finds the allegations true, recommends registration of case and investigation by CID.

MARCH 11, 1991
Change of government brings in a new DGP, RK Hooda,
He too recommends departmental action against Rathore.1992
Government agrees that an FIR can be registered against Rathore.
The case is transferred to the Chief Secretary.

AUG 12, 1992
First of the six auto theft FIRs is registered against Ruchika’s brother, Ashu.

OCT 23, 1993
Ruchika’s brother, Ashu is arrested, kept in custody for two months.
He is beaten up in custody and one day taken to his house, where Ruchika is told that her father would meet the same fate if she did not withdraw the complaint.

DEC 28, 1993
Ruchika consumes poison, dies next day.
Her brother Ashu is released.JAN 1994
Government withdraws all charges against Rathore.

APRIL 1997
Ruchika’s brother Ashu is discharged from all theft cases.

NOV 1997
Aradhana’s mother files a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
A year later, the High Court directs CBI to conduct an inquiry.DEC 1999
The Supreme Court upholds the order of High Court.

JAN 2000
The CBI files charge sheet against Rathore, recommends his removal in the interest of “free and fair deposition”.

JULY 2002
Rathore retires as DGP.

NOV 2009
The Case is transferred to CBI Chandigarh.

DEC 11, 2009
On Monday, 21^st December 2009 the special CBI court in Chandigarh sentences , S.P.S. Rathore to six months imprisonment and fine of Rs. 1,000.

The family was harassed so much that after Ruchika’s deatgm it shifted from Panchkula to an undisclosed location.

Authors note

Ø What is surprising is that not only successive governments did not take any action against Rathore, but promoted him.

Ø During the pendency of the case, Rathore was promoted by successive governments in Haryana, till he became DGP and retired in 2002 as the Director General of Police.

Ø He was also awarded the Police Medal in 1985.

Ø According to Lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj, who has been fighting the case free of cost for the last 13 years. “Rathore’s atrocities over Ruchika’s family forced the innocent girl to commit suicide”.

Ø Only now the Home ministry has issued show cause notices on S.P.S. Rathore, in an attempt to strip off the medal and also for reduction of his pension owing to the gruesome crime he committed.

Chief Justice of India

I hate people who are now saying that they tried to help in the case, but at that time remained silent spectators.They could then have leaked the information to the media and appropriate action would have been taken.

Does not this case call for suo moto action ?

This is my humble request to you..

Dr. Binoy Gupta
Retd. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax

Flamingoes in Mumbai – December 2009

Binoy Gupta — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:08:52 +0000

After the monsoons, Flamingoes – the lesser and the greater ones – and a lot of other migratory birds come to the coastal mudflats of India from the North.They feed on the mudflats during the next five or six months and return to their homelands in April or so.

They also come to Sewree in Central Mumbai in large numbers. Sewree is hardly four kilometres from my residence.
But I never saw these birds in the mudflats there.

Call it a Christmas determination or whatever, on the 27th December 2009, I decided to see the flamingoes. We made phone to different people to learn about the tides, how to reach the best location to see the birds and whatever we could learn.

Its simple. You have to go to Sewree Station. You have to cross the gate (phatak) which takes you to the eastern side of the station. Ask any one for the Sewree Jetty (or Indian Oil Corporation) or Sewree Khari (Sewree Bay). It is less than a kilometre away. We reached the jetty in no time.

You should go there when the tide is low.
What a scene it was! I could not count the birds. But there were more than 15,000 flamingoes all around. The younger ones had a blackish colouration and moved around in small groups of their own. There were a lot of other birds.

At the jetty, we clambered up the iron ladder on to a large ship which was undergoing repairs.
(Of course, we first asked for and took permission from the first person we sighted on the ship.)I am attaching some of the photographs.
I am giving the web site from where you can see the tide table for any day.
I am not reproducing my earlier article on flamingoes. I am giving its link.
Read it if you like. And oh, like any other writer I would love to have your views and comments.Binoy GuptaEmail:, eleena100@hotmail.comWebsite of the Mumbai Port Trust:
http://www.mumbaiport.gov.in/newsite/PORTINFO/weather.htmLink to my earlier article on flamingoes:
http://binoygupta.com/travel_india/flamingo-greater-flamingo-lesser-flamingo-migratory-birds-sewree-creek-mitthi-river-an-indian-bureaucrats-diary-travelogue-on-india-binoy-gupta-234/

Digha

Binoy Gupta — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:32:02 +0000

the most popular week end get away
for Kolkatians (Calcuttans)

Digha (originally known as Beerkul) is the most popular beach, and weekend get away, for the people of West Bengal in general, and Kolkata in particular.

In 1780, in one of his letters to his wife, Warren Hasting wrote about Digha as the “Brighton of the East”.In 1923, John Frank Smith, an English tourist was so enamoured by the beauty of Digha that he started living there. His writings about Digha brought the place into prominence.
After independence, John Frank Smith convinced Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, then Chief Minister of West Bengal, to develop Digha as a beach resort.

Digha has beautiful, firm, sandy beaches – so firm that you can drive cars and land small planes on them.

I used to visit Digha quite often to collect sea anemones, star fishes, small fishes and other small creatures for my marine aquariums. I also used to bring in sea water for these aquariums. Once, I got a large eel.

The water is shallow up to considerable distances. I used to walk into the sea for almost a kilometre. But believe me, this was fool hardy and certainly not safe.
You should never go out too far from the shore.

Activities You can play around in the sand and sea and pamper your stomach with local
Bengali cuisine.
The fried fish on the sea front is certainly worth trying.

You can shop for ornaments and curios, hand-woven mats made of weeds,
and purchase cashew nuts.

Other places to see

New Digha (2 kms) is practically an extension of Digha.
(On the way to New Digha, you can view marine life at the aquarium, or visit the Science Centre for some scientific facts.)
Shiva Temple at Chandaneshwar (8 kms).
Talasari, another lovely beach (3 kms).
Shankarpur, an untouched beach, often called the twin of Digha (14 kms).
Shankarpur is also an important fishing harbour.
Junput, another beautiful beach (40 kms).
This beach is great for fishing and sun bathing.
The State Government Fisheries Department, conducts fish cultivation and research here.
Mandarmani (14 kms), a small virgin beach with also a small fishing harbour, is a fast developing tourist resort.

Reaching there

Digha is 187 kms from Kolkata,
You can go by car, taxi or public transport.The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is offering great all inclusive packages from Kolkata to Digha.

Recommendation

Digha has suffered severe soil erosion. Much of its old time glory has passed over to New Digha which is almost like an extension of Digha.

The beach is lined with Casuarina trees.
The sea is calm and safe for swimming.
You can see both the sunrise and sunset at Digha.

There are plenty of hotels of all kinds at cheap rates.

Tourism Information

You can get tourist information from
West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.
New Secretariat Building (West Block) Ground FloorKolkata – 700 001 Phone; 91 33 – 2248 7302/8256/8242, 2210 3194

Indian Cheetah

Binoy Gupta — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:12:21 +0000

Reintroduction in India

The Cheetah is the fastest land animal on earth.
The word “cheetah” is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘chitraka’, meaning “speckled”.

Asiatic Cheetah

Once upon a time, the Asiatic Cheetah (a different sub specie from its African cousin) was quite common and roamed all the way from Arabia to Iran, Afghanistan and India. The Asiatic Cheetah was also known as the hunting leopard, and were kept by kings and princes to hunt gazelle.
The Moghul Emperor Akbar is believed to have kept 1000 cheetahs.

Decimation of the Asiatic Cheetah

At the turn of the 20th century, there were several thousands of the Asiatic Cheetah in India.
But they were indiscriminately hunted.
The last three wild cheetahs in India were shot by the Maharajah of Surguja in eastern Madhya Pradesh in 1947.

After that, there remained a few cheetahs in different zoos of India.
But all of them died.
Since then, 35 cheetahs have been brought to India.
All of them died due to improper care and diseases in 6 different zoos – Hyderabad, Delhi, Kanpur, Calcutta, Trivandrum and Mysore.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals has listed the Asiatic Cheetah as ‘critically endangered’.
Only 75 to 100 remain in the wild – confined to Iran’s Kavir desert – with a few being sighted in south-west Pakistan.

Reintroduction of the Cheetah

We hear so much of animal species being wiped out, that reintroduction of a species is wonderful news.
We may be able to see the Asiatic Cheetah once again in our forests.
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), has drawn up a detailed plan to reintroduce the cheetah.
It has identified several locations it considers suitable habitats.

Cheetah from Numibia

The Government of India approached Iran for a pair of cheetahs.
Iran agreed to give a pair in exchange of a pair of wild lions.
But Gujarat refused to give the two lions from the Gir Sanctuary.

The Government of India then approached Namibia and Namibia agreed to give a pair of cheetahs to India.
But the Namibian cheetah is a different sub-species from the Asiatic cheetah, and scientists warn that no translocation should be done without proper studies.

Final decision to be taken in September 2009

An international conference of experts from Africa and Europe will be held in September 2009 to move the project forward.
If the plan is cleared, the pair of Numibian cheetahs are likely to be translocated to Rajasthan.

A final decision will be taken by the Government of India after the expert meeting.
However, scientists want a very cautious approach because what is being reintroduced from Numibia are not the the Asiatic Cheetah but a different sub-species.

We may soon see the Cheetah in our forests

As things are moving in the right direction, I am sure Cheetah will soon be reintroduced in our forests.

Delhi High Court Rules Gay Sex is Legal

Binoy Gupta — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:36:34 +0000

Land Mark Judgement in favour of the gaysThis judgement has been treated as a land mark judgement protecting the rights of the gays.

Unnatural Offences – Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code

Section 377 dealing with Unnatural offences was drafted by Lord Macaulay in 1860.

It reads:
“ Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section.^”

Even consensual heterosexual acts such as fellatio and digital penetration may be a punishable offense under this law. It is another matter that convictions under these provisions are extremely rare.
There has not been a single conviction for homosexual relations in India during the last twenty years.

Human Rights Activists claim misuse

However, human rights activists have been alleging that the law has been used to harass people such as sexual minorities and transsexuals. They have published reports of the rights violations in India.

In 2006, 100 Indian literary figures criticised this provision.
Some Indian Central Government Ministers also criticised the provision. In 2008, a judge of the Bombay High Court called for scrapping of the law.

Naz Foundation India TrustThe Naz Foundation India Trust, an activist group, filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court in 2001, The following is the long sequence of events:
2001: Naz Foundation, an NGO fighting for gay rights, files PIL seeking legalisation of gay sex among consenting adults.

Sept 2, 2004: Delhi High Court dismisses the PIL seeking decriminalisation of gay sex.

Sept, 2004: The gay right activists file review petition.

Nov 3, 2004: The High Court dismisses the review plea.

Dec, 2004: Gay rights activists approach the Supreme Court of India against the order of the High Court.

Apr 3, 2006: The Supreme Court directs the High Court to reconsider the matter on merit and remands the case back to the High Court.

Oct 4, 2006: The High Court allows senior BJP leader B P Singhal’s plea, opposing decriminalising gay sex, to be impleaded in the case.

Sept 18, 2008: Centre seeks more time to take stand on the issue after the contradictory stand between the Home and Health ministries over decriminalisation of homosexuality. The Court refuses the plea and final argument in the case begins.

Sep 25, 2008: The gay rights activists contend that the government cannot infringe upon their fundamental right to equality by decriminalising homosexual acts on the ground of morality.

Sep 26, 2008: In view of contradictory affidavits filed by Health and Home ministries, the High Court pulls up the Centre for speaking in two voices on the homosexuality law.

Sep 26, 2008: Centre says that gay sex is immmoral and a reflection of a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead to moral degradation of society.

Oct 15, 2008: The High Court pulls up the Centre for relying on religious texts to justify ban on gay sex and asks it to come up with scientific reports to justify it.

Nov, 2008: Government in its written submission before the High Court says judiciary should refrain from interfering in the issue as it is basically for Parliament to decide.

Nov 7, 2008: High Court reserves its verdict on petitions filed by gay rights activists seeking decriminalisation of homosexual acts.

July 2, 2009: High Court allows plea of gay rights activists and legalises gay sex among consenting adults. On 2 Jul 2009, a bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar, delivered a 105-page judgement, overturning the 150 year old section, and legalised consensual homosexual activities between adults. The following are some excerpts from the judgement:

“The provision of Section 377 runs counter to the Constitutional values and the notion of human dignity which is considered to be cornerstone of our constitution.

“Section 377 in its application to sexual act of consenting adults in privacy discriminates a section of people solely on the ground of their sexual orientation which is analogous to prohibited grounds of sex.

“We hold that sexual orientation is a ground analogous to sex and that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not permitted by Article 15.“We declare Section 377 of IPC in so far as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private is violative of Articles 14, 21 and 15 of the ConstitutionThe court clarified that “by adults we mean everyone who is 18 years of age or above…..and.the provision of Section 377 IPC will continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non vaginal sex involving minors”.
The court further said that this judgement will hold till Parliament chooses to amend the law.

The High Court made it clear that this “ judgement will not result in the reopening of criminal cases involving Section 377 of IPC that have already attained finality.”

The Judges pulled up the government for its stand that judiciary should refrain from interfering on the issue as it pertains to legislative function coming under the ambit of Parliament.

“We are constrained to observe that the submission of Additional Solicitor General reflect rather poorly on his understanding of the Constitutional scheme.

“The judiciary is constituted as the ultimate interpretor of the Constitution and to it is assigned the delicate task of determining what is the extent and scope of the power conferred on each branch of government,” the bench said.

“A constitutional provision must be construed, not in a narrow and constricted sense, but in a wide and liberal manner so as to anticipate and take it out of changing conditions and purposes so that the Constitutional provision does not get atrophied or fossilised but remains flexible enough to meet the newly emerging problem,” the Bench said quoting a Supreme Court judgement.

It should be noted that during the hearings, there were contradictions within the the Government – the Home Ministry had opposed scrapping of Section 377 while Ministry of Health came out openly in support of the gay rights activists.

Land Mark Judgement in favour of the gaysThis judgement has been treated as a land mark judgement protecting the rights of the gays.
Some religious leaders have criticised the judgement/
An appeal has already been filed in the Supreme Court of India.

Capital Punishment

Binoy Gupta — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:48:14 +0000

Hanged….what if he was innocent Capital Punishment is an extremely controversial subject.
When ever a heinous crime is committed which enrages the general public, the outrage is understandingly very strong calling for the capital punishment.All countries in the world had capital punishment in their legal systems.
But most of them are abolishing it.

Britain had capital punishment for more than 200 offences – including some extremely trivial offences.
Two centuries ago, in 1808, Sir Samuel Romilly introduced reforms to abolish the death penalty for some of the capital offences in what he termed England’s “Bloody Code”.
Finally, the entire European Union totally abolished capital punishment for all offences.

Today, 135 countries have abolished the death penalty, in law or practice.
In 2006, 1591 persons were executed in 25 countries.
Unfotunately, 91 per cent of these executions were carried out in six countries – China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the USA.

Apart from the unfortunate fact, that time and again, innocent persons have been convicted, and even executed, there is no evidence to show that execution has ever deterred crime.
It is surprising that even today USA, Japan and even India have retained capital punishment.

Hon’ble Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court is convinced that India in its penological reform from Macaulay to Mahatma will wipe out the bloodstained sentence of judicial verdict.

I have done considerable study of this subject.
I have written a book Hanged ….What if he was Innocent
which is being published through Booksurge of U.S., a subsidiary
of Amazon.com in September 2009.

This book is a fictionalised study of our more than two centuries experimentation with capital punishment – packed with facts and laws. You can not come to a correct conclusion about the correctness of capital punishment unless you know the facts …………………….

This book is a mine of factual information about Capital Punishment.
Read it and arrive at your own conclusion.

Justice on Trial

Binoy Gupta — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:40:36 +0000

In India, the judges of the Supreme Court and the 21 High Courts of India are highly respected.
The litigants, including the common man, have the utmost faith in the judiciary.
The judges are perceived to be honest, impartial and unapproachable.

But they are faced with acute shortage in numbers, truck loads of pending cases, ever increasing burden of more and more cases, archaic and time consuming law and procedures, etc.

To give an idea:· The Supreme Court has 31 judges with a pendency of 46,926 cases (January 2009). The number has since crossed 50,000.· The 21 High Courts, have 635 judges against the sanctioned strength of 886.
They have pendency of 38.7 lakh cases (January 1, 2009 – 37.4 lakh cases on January 1, 2008).
Our judges are working against such odds.

Once in a while, a charge is made, an allegation levelled against a judge.
A charge was made against Justice Soumitra Sen of the Kolkata High Court.
He was alleged to have appropriated Rs 32 lakh as a court-appointed receiver in 1993 in a lawsuit between SAIL and Shipping Corporation of India over supply of fire bricks by depositing the money in his personal account, in spite of knowing that the money had to be kept in a separate bank account.

Justice Sen retained the money even after being elevated to the High Court in 2003, and returned it only after the High Court ordered him to pay it back in April 2006.

The allegations were referred to a three judge inquiry committee. The committee found Justice Sen’s conduct a serious misconduct.
Justice K G Balakrishnan, the Chief Justice of India requested the Prime Minister to initiate impeachment proceedings.
In September 2008, the Govt. decided to initiate impeachment proceedings.

The impeachment proceedings have commenced and would be taken to their logical conclusion.
On his part, Justice Sen has chosen to defend himself.

This is in bad taste. Once a serious allegation has been levelled against a judge, and his peers found truth in the allegations, the least the judge should do is resign.

The entire judicial system is based on faith and respect. If that has gone, what is left?

Instead of sticking on to his post, it would have been a far more graceful gesture for Justice Sen to quit.Judges have quit in the past. There is nothing wrong in quitting. That would have been the best action.

The first impeachment process in India was initiated against a Supreme Court Judge V Ramaswami in 1991 for misconduct in furniture purchases when he was the Chief Justice of Haryana HC.
But he was not formally impeached.

Bandra-Worli Sea Link (Mumbai)

Binoy Gupta — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:53:42 +0000

I travelled over the 5.6 km Bandra Worli Sea Link (Mumbai) last night amidst heavy rain and poor visiblity.
It is a great achievement and a beautiful land mark for Mumbai.It (or rather half of it) was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi on the 30^th June.

Amidst the euphoria over this engineering marvel, was controversy regarding its being named after Rajiv Gandhi.
In the first place, I wonder why it had to be named at all. To avoid any useless controversy, we could have mimicked the beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia and left its name at Bandra Worli Sea Link.The government promised that the Bandra Worli Sea Link would bring down the commuting time from Bandra to Love Grove Junction at Worli from 35 minutes to seven minutes. But this has proved a false dream.
The speed limit on the sea link has already been reduced from the original 80 kmph to 50 kmph.
There are bottle necks at the entry and exit points and numerous curves and traffic signals which reduce the speed, induce traffic jams and prolong the time.
The one way toll of Rs 50 for a ten minute or so or saving would hardly encourage many car owners.

The bottle necks at the entry and exit points should have been anticipated and taken care of when the link was under construction. This indicates poor planning at the highest levels.

Coming to the logistics, there are big advertisements showing the amount of steel, cement, etc. used.
We all know that these have to be necessarily used in any construction.
The quantities involved hardly make any sense to the lay man.

The bridge has taken eight years to build, just double the scheduled time and some of the construction is still incomplete.
By way of comparison, China constructed the 36 km Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge, (over seven times the length of the Worli Bandra Link) in just four years.
China built seven sea links in the past six years against our solo venture in eight years.

Should we pat ourselves? I am not so sure.

Travel India Abortion and the Law

Binoy Gupta — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:28:13 +0000

Abortion & Law

There are different legal provisions relating to abortion in different countries.

The Position in India

In India, abortion is not allowed after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
This has led to a piquant situation.

A Unique Case

A couple in Mumbai – Niketa and Haresh Mehta were expecting a child.
A sonography test revealed that the 25 week old foetus had a congenital heart block.
The child-to- be-born would need a pace maker right from its birth and constant medical treatment for the rest of its life involving huge medical expenses.
They decided to get the baby aborted.
Doctors refused to carry out the abortion because abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy is illegal.

The couple approached the Bombay High Court.
The Bombay High Court appointed an expert committee of three doctors to give their recommendations.
The team gave a report that they were in not in favour of the abortion, but the final decision had to be taken by the couple.

The Judges called the couple and discussed the matter with them.
The couple said they did want a child – but a healthy one.
So they wanted abortion – if legally possible.

The judges offered a suggestion that the state would take care of all the medical expenses of the child.
The couple did not accept the suggestion.
They did not have faith that the government would give timely help.

Dilemma

The Judges are in a dilemma.
They want to follow the law.
They have directed the expert committee to give a clear opinion.

Lord Dennings

It is a well know fact, that under the guise of interpreting laws, judges are constantly making laws.

In the words of Lord Dennings:“ Law does not stand still. It moves continually.Once this is recognised, then the task of the Judge is put on a higher plane.
He must consciously seek to mould the law so as to serve the needs of the time. He must not be a mere mechanic, a mere working mason, laying brick on brick, without thought to the overall design.

He must be an architect – thinking of the structure as a whole, building for society a system of law which is strong, durable and just.It is on his work that civilised society itself depends.”

Go ahead Judges.
You don’t need the support of a team of doctors.
You have the support of the noblest legal luminary in the world.

Dr. Binoy Gupta

Travel India Kaziranga National Park

Binoy Gupta — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:45:15 +0000

Home of the Indian, or Great
One horned, Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros unicornis)

It was midsummer time.
The grass was sparse.
We were travelling in a jeep because all the elephants were already booked.

We sighted the first Rhinoceros.
It was a magnificent male.
He looked more like an armoured tank, or a fossil age left over, rather than a living mammal of the present era.
He looked up at us and smiled (but honestly speaking, I am not too sure), as we passed him and continued munching grass.

We were inside the fabulous Kaziranga National Park – a national park in Assam, India.

Kaziranga National Park has two-thirds of the world’s One horned Rhinoceros.
It’s also a World Heritage Site.
It has also been recognised as an Important Bird Area by the Birdlife International for conservation of avifaunal species.

Lady Curzon and the Rhinoceros

And then I suddenly remembered the beautiful Lady Curzon.
You may wonder how Lady Curzon can possibly be associated with Rhinoceros.
She is the fairy God Mother of the rhinoceros of Kaziranga.
In fact, she is the fairy God Mother of Kaziranga National Park itself.

In 1904, Lady Mary Victoria Curzon, wife of Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, heard about the rhinoceros in Kaziranga from her British tea planter friends in Assam.
She visited the area.
But all she could see were some foot prints of the three toed animals.
She persuaded Lord Curzon to do something to protect them.

On June 1, 1905, the Government issued a preliminary notification announcing its intention to declare certain areas of Kaziranga a reserved forest.
On January 3, 1908, the Government declared 232 sq. kms. (90 sq. miles) a reserved forest, and officially closed it for shooting.
Over the next three years, the area was extended by 152 sq. kms. (59 sq. miles) upto the banks of the Brahmaputra River.

On January 28, 1913, the area of the reserved forest was expanded by another 13,506 acres.
In 1916, it was converted into a game sanctuary – The Kaziranga Game Sanctuary.
In 1950, P.D. Stracey, senior conservator of forests, changed the term ‘Game Sanctuary’ to ‘Wildlife Sanctuary’ because the word ‘game’ connotes animals for hunting.
On February 11, 1974, the Government of India declared the 430 sq. kms. (166 sq. miles) Wildlife Sanctuary a National Park, and changed its name to Kaziranga National Park.
Kaziranga National Park celebrated its centenary in June 2005.

The Government invited some of the descendants of Curzon on the occasion.
A fitting tribute to Lady Curzon!

Different Species of Rhinos

There are five species of Rhinoceros in the world.
Two of these are native to Africa and three to southern Asia.
All the three species found in Asia – Javan, Sumatran and the Indian, or Great One horned Rhinoceros are critically endangered.

The rhinoceros family is characterised by its large size (one of the few remaining megafauna alive today).
All the species reach one ton or more in weight.
They are herbivorous.
They have protective skin, 1.5 – 5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure.
The skin has been used to cover shields.
But they have relatively small brains.

Rhinoceros also have acute sense of hearing and smell, but poor eyesight.
Most live to about 60 years or more.
They appear to be slow.
But they can charge at speeds exceeding 40 miles per hour (the speed of a race horse).
The two African species and the Sumatran species have two horns, while the Indian and Javan species have a single horn.

Indian Rhinoceros

A few centuries ago, the Indian, or Great One horned, Rhinoceros were found across the north Indian plains in the wetlands of Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers.

The Mughal Emperors even hunted them.
Today, they are found only in small areas of the north eastern state of Assam and in neighbouring Nepal.
In Assam, their habitat is limited to two national parks – Kaziranga and Manas.
They are considered endangered, with less than 2500 individuals remaining in the wild.

The Horn – is it an aphrodiasac ?

The rhino’s horn is considered to be an aphrodiasac.
The price of a rhino horn in India is anything between Rs. 4 to 7 lakhs.
In the International market, the value is at least three times this amount.
This leads to poaching.

But from the medical point of view, the horns of a rhinoceros are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes hair and fingernails, and have no medicinal or aphrodiasic value.

Other animals

Kaziranga has the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.
Kaziranga also has large breeding populations of elephants, water buffalo and swamp deer.

There are plenty of other animals, like Indian bison, swamp deer, sambhar, hog deer, sloth bear, leopard, pig, leopard cat, jungle cat, hog badger, capped langur, gibbon, jackal and porcupine.
There are plenty of snakes including the python, king cobra, and a variety of lizards.

It is a bird watcher’s paradise with birds like the pelican, duck, geese, hornbill, ibis, cormorant, egret, heron, black necked stork, lesser adjutants, ring-tailed fishing eagles, etc.

There are fresh water dolphins in the rivers around.

Vegetation

Kaziranga has vast expanses of tall elephant grass, marshland and dense tropical forests crisscrossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and numerous small bodies of shallow water.

Reaching there

The nearest airports are Guwahati 239 kms. and Jorhat 97 kms.
From these places, you can travel by car, taxi or public transport.

Success at Kaziranga and the dangers

Kaziranga is considered the flag bearer of all the wildlife conservation efforts across the globe.
But there are a number of dangers.
Poaching is the biggest threat.

At least 27 rhinos were killed in 2007.
Floods caused by over flowing of the Brahmaputra River during the rainy season have often proved disastrous.