The Hindu : New Delhi News : Championing the cause of the tiger

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Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008
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New Delhi

Championing the cause of the tiger

“Save The Tiger”, the mass campaign organised by NDTV and Sanctuary Asia magazine to save the dwindling tiger population in the country, culminated in a nationwide signature campaign over the weekend.

Over 4,80,000 signaures, SMS and online petitions from major cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Dehra Dun, Patna, Srinagar, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati and Ahmedabad were received.

The campaign leaders have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold an emergency meeting of the National Board for Wildlife to consider the increasing threat to the tiger. Besides calling upon Chief Ministers of every State to establish a protection force for tigers, the campaign seeks up-gradation of forest guards to the level of the police with better compensation. Moreover, they are clamouring for an improved intelligence network that is critical to crack rampant unethical poaching.

Interestingly, the campaign received an overwhelming response from school children across the country apart from eminent personalities like Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, former cricketer Ajay Jadeja, quizmaster Derek O Brien, cricket commentator Charu Sharma, film-maker Aparna Sen, Bollywood actor Milind Soman, actor Khushboo and Raymond’s Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania.

Black cats

National Wildlife Board member Valmik Thapar says: “Like the Prime Minister needs Black Cat commandoes for his protection, if the tiger has to live, it needs a protection group for it to make it safe.”

Appreciating the public’s response to the campaign, Sanctuary Asia editor Bittu Sehgal says: “It is really a great occasion where so many people have come forward to sign in favour of this campaign. We actually want to convey the message across to the Prime Minister that we want the tiger to be saved as it is a sense of what India is.”

Apart from nationwide public support, the campaign was also backed by other celebrities, well-known environmentalists and non-government organisations. Bollywood stars Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta and Farhan Akhtar and cricketer Rahul Dravid have also supported the movement to save the tiger.

Madhur Tankha

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