Forest Guards up in Arms

The incident involving two hot-headed and law-breaking lawmakers who were fishing in a Kaziranga stream on Tuesday could end up in their discovery that they had been fishing in troubled waters. We are at a loss to understand why the two MLAs — Jiten Gogoi and Kushal Duori — have not been apprehended yet. In the beginning there were reports that Jiten Gogoi had been absconding. However, the latest reports indicate that they are both at the MLA hostel in Guwahati cocking a snook at the police force. What passes our understanding is why Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who had promised action against them, is holding his hand when they can be picked up from the MLA hostel — despite their having sophisticated arms with them. Or is it that they have their arms with them, and the police cannot match them? Be that as it may, the Kaziranga forest guards and the All Assam Forest Workers’ Association (AAFWA) have threatened an agitation for their protection that may even be "like a sepoy mutiny". The staff at Kaziranga stopped tourist operations inside the national park for two days after Tuesday’s incident and have set the government a deadline of ten days to arrest the MLAs responsible for Tuesday’s vandalism. The general secretary of AAFWA has said: "Not only wild animals, forest personnel are confronted with poachers and militants. Now we have a threat from people’s representatives. We need protection from the government." Interestingly enough, the general secretary is one Indra Gogoi complaining about the misdeeds of lawmaker Jiten Gogoi and company. It remains to be seen what the top Gogoi of the State is going to do about law-breaking MLAs who share this surname. THE SENTINEL