GUWAHATI, Sept 3: The Opposition Congress in Assam has appealed to the state government to revoke the Cabinet resolution to withdraw the nomenclature of Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.
The Assam Cabinet had on Wednesday decided to rename Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park as Orang National Park, taking cognizance of the requests made by Adivasi and tea tribe communities of the state.
Rajya Sabha MP and former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president, Ripun Bora in a letter to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the Cabinet resolution as “most unfortunate” while appealing to the government to revoke the decision.
“The decision of your Cabinet to withdraw nomenclature of Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park is most unfortunate and will create a bad precedent in the coming days,” Bora stated.
“People of Assam will remember Rajiv Gandhi for his significant role in the historic Assam Accord which put an end to the years’ long bloodshed during the Assam Agitation. The Assam government during the regime of chief minister Hiteswar Saikia took the decision to name Orang National Park as Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park as a mark of honour and respect to the great leader and since then the national park has got a place at the international level,” he stated.
“Such decisions of changing the name of a particular institute will serve no fruitful purpose. Rather it reflects lack of respect to a great leader who sacrificed his life for the country. There is every reason to believe that your decision seems to be nothing but political vendetta towards a former Prime Minister who differed from the political ideology of your party,” Bora stated in the letter to the chief minister.
Leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia on Friday also condemned the Cabinet decision, while pointing out the contributions of Rajiv Gandhi in regard to environment, forest and wildlife preservation during his tenure as Prime Minister.
However, reacting to Opposition’s claims and appeals, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma sought to “clear the air” on the topic, stating that Orang National Park has not been renamed.
“No national parks in Assam are named after any person. In 2005, the government broke this convention and the name of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was affixed. The original name (Orang National Park) has been restored to honour the local sentiments,” Sarma said.