Hidden Lions, Crouching Rhinos

As if that is not enough, the department, that is taking upon itself the task of promoting the northeast as a new destination for tourists, has also promised to show you two-horned rhinos, which are not endemic to this subcontinent but belong to Africa.

The first three of this new series of advertisement campaign, that have been already published in different newspapers of the country, also tell the potential tourist that Kolkata is ‘‘the main railhead’’ to travel to the region.

‘‘This is incredible and simply cannot be tolerated. I have already brought the matter to the notice of the chief minister and we are formally lodging a complaint and protest with the union tourism minister,’’ says Assam’s Minister of State for Tourism, Ajanta Neog. She says the Centre was not doing a great favour by carrying out the publicity campaign for the northeastern region ‘‘because the funds belong to us and not New Delhi.’’

‘‘I had only a few months back discovered that the Government of India tourism department was distributing brochures on Assam and the northeast that were not only outdated but contained terribly wrong information,’’ says Neog. She says it was not necessary that a Delhi-based advertising agency had to be hired simply because the Central tourism department was doing the campaign. The campaign has been designed by a Delhi-based agency Akshara Digital.

When asked how Kolkata could be a railhead for the northeast, Neog said it was common knowledge that people outside the region knew little about its geography and culture. ‘‘These advertisements reflect poorly on the union tourism department,’’ she adds.

Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, is well connected by trains including a daily Rajdhani Express from Delhi. A weekly Air India flight linking Guwahati with Bangkok also flies in and out to Mumbai.

The advertisements also speak of Indian Airlines covering, among other places, Shillong. But the Umroi airport near Shillong has not been functioning for more than six years now.

Expressing surprise and anguish over the contents of the advertisements, the Association of Tour Operators of North East India (ATONEI) said that such wrong information would do more harm than promote tourism in the region.

Tour operators feel that tourists coming here after reading these ads were bound to be disappointed. ‘‘Tourists would want to fly to Shillong after reading this advertisement. They will also look for lions inside Kaziranga National Park,’’ says a leading tour operator who brings the highest number of European and southeast Asian tourists to the northeast.

B Basumatary, Director of Tourism, Assam, said it was common knowledge that lions are found only in Gujarat, while two-horned rhinos do not belong to India. But it seems it was not so with the people who made these ads.