Demand for deletion of Rajiv Gandhi's name from Orang National Park

A CORRESPONDENT

TANGLA: Aranya Suraksha Samiti Assam, a nature organization has urged Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma to rename Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park as Orang National Park. The organization's General Secretary, Dr. Hari Charan Das have dashed off a memoramdum in this regard to Assam Chief Minister on Friday.

As per the petition, Orang Sanctuary was renamed after former PM Rajiv Gandhi in the year 1985 but in the year 1996 the nature organisation had launched an campaign to restore back the name of the Sanctuary and upgrade it as a national park and a massive signature campaign was launched which was joined by intellectuals, journalists and litterateurs of Assam and in the year 1999 the name was restored and it was upgraded as Orang National Park. However in 2001 only to impress a particular political family and a political party the then Tarun Gogoi-led Congress Government renamed the Park as Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park. "The name of the Former PM will always be written in golden words in the history of India but it is irrelevant to name the national park after him," the petition contended. The petition has urged the Assam Chief Minister to restore the name of the park to Orang National Park in the interest of history and heritage of Assam. Pertinently, Orang National Park with a core area of over 79 sq.km. is home to 101 one-horned rhinos (2018 figures) and 24 majestic Royal Bengal Tigers besides a treasure trove of avian and aquatic species.

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