Disappointed by a BBC documentary that questions India’s violent safety actions at Kaziranga national park in Assam, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that administers all the tiger reserves in the nation, has forced a ban on the top media group and its journalist Justin Rowlatt for next five years.
As per a report in TOI, BBC’s South Asia journalist Justin Rowlatt’s documentary named ‘One World: Killing for Conservation’ on Kaziranga’s rhino conservation techniques attracted condemnation from the Union environment ministry for being grossly mistaken.
In the documentary, it had claimed that forest guards in Kaziranga had been given the power to shoot and murder anyone they think can be risky to rhinos.
NTCA, in a memorandum issued on Monday evening, said, BBC did not present the documentary to MoEFCC and Ministry of External Affairs for mandatory previewing “in order to remove any deviations, so as to achieve a balanced and accurate exposition of the theme”.
Therefore, it has told chief wildlife wardens of all tiger range states and field directors of tiger reserves to prohibit filming approval to BBC for five years.
