How Majuli lost World Heritage status race

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rubbed shoulders with American President George Bush in Japan on the sidelines of the G-8 summit...

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rubbed shoulders with American President George Bush in Japan on the sidelines of the G-8 summit, the PMO’s initiative to get the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage status for Majuli Island in Assam’s Jorhat district was brushed aside in an unprecedented way by the US and other countries at the 32nd meeting of the World Heritage Committee which was held from July 2 to 10 in Quebec, Canada.

According to sources, the World Heritage Committee — which comprises 21 members, including the US, Canada, Mauritius, China, Cuba, Bahrain and Israel — initially refused to take up the case of Majuli Island, citing reasons of “paucity of time “ and “inadequate supportive materials”. The sources add that Majuli, which lies in the middle of the Brahmaputra river and is regarded as the largest fresh water river island in the world, was only taken into consideration by the committee after Mauritius moved a motion on India’s behalf.

In an unprecedented development during discussions regarding the case, the US and Australia jointly demanded that there should be a secret ballot, even though there had never been a voting on the issue before. The voting was done on July 8, with nine countries voting in India’s favour and eight against it; four countries abstained. Since a two-third majority is required to get a site included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, India lost its case. The official reason cited was that “Majuli is of no universal value”.

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Indian permanent representative to UNESCO Bhaswati Mukherjee has written to the MEA, referring to the issue as “ a humiliating episode”.

The saga started in 2004, when India first nominated Majuli Island for World Heritage status. This time, India had nominated the site for inclusion under the “Cultural Landscape” category. Hopes were running high this year, especially since the Assam Government had involved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has his Rajya Sabha nomination from Assam. The PM had then convened a meeting with the Ministries of Tourism, Culture and Water Resources officials to discuss the resubmission of Majuli for UNESCO’s consideration. The issue of the threat posed to the island due to soil erosion was also discussed at the meeting. Last year, the UNESCO Committee had asked the Government to come up with legal protection to safeguard the river island and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which acts as the nodal agency for nomination of Indian sites on the World Heritage List, had prepared a detailed document with the help of consultants.