The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has described its ‘programme’ on conservation of rhinoceros at the Kaziranga National Park as “balanced and impartial.” “Any such reaction [ban] to a report on an important global issue like the appropriate way to combat poaching would be extremely disappointing,” it said.
‘Revoke visas’
On February 27, an office memorandum issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), urged the Ministry of External Affairs to revoke the visas of BBC’s South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt and his crew, and prevent “their further entry into India, for a period not less than five years”.
The NTCA, which comes under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, expressed strong objection to the BBC documentary, ‘Our World: Killing for Conservation’.
The memorandum also advised the wildlife wing of the Ministry to “disallow filming permission to the BBC in any protected area of the country for a period of five years”.
The Hindu reported (‘MoEF seeks 5-year ban on BBC crew’, March 1) on the incident on the basis of the official memorandum of the NTCA. The statement, which has been attributed to a BBC spokesperson, said the international broadcaster had not received “any notification of a ban from the authorities”.
The BBC statement was circulated by Perfect Relations, a public relations company. It also stated that the BBC has “approached the relevant government authorities to ensure their position was fully reflected but they declined to take part”.
