This is a chance for all who are concerned about developments in the
Andamans to step in and do something. Please don't be part of the silent
majority. Please write to Mrs. Gandhi to urge action on these matters. We
hope for a response within a month, so the letters need to get there now.
You don't have to agree with everything these letters say; write your own if
need be.

On an unrelated matter, I must express my irritation at the continued use of
the word "extrasensory" in explaining why so many animals escaped the
tsunami. There are perfectly rational explanations, such as the higher
sensitivity of animals to sounds and to vibrations transmitted through the
ground. The tsunami reached all the way to the ocean bottom, churning it up
as it came and probably making a thundering sound, to those who could hear
it. Sound is transmitted much faster through the ground than through air,
and would long have preceded the tsunami's arrival. Elephants, for instance,
can hear infrasound and would have heard the tsunami coming; chances are
similar explanations work for other creatures as well.

Madhusree


Subject: Continued marginalisation of the Jarawas in the Andamans: Letter to
National advisory Council

Dear Friends,
Here is the other of the two letters sent last week to the National Advisory
Council. It deals essentially with the continued marginalisation of the
Jarawa Community of the Andaman islands.
Pankaj Sekhsaria



To
Mrs Sonia Gandhi
Chairperson
National Advisory Council
10, Janpath
New Delhi 110 011
28th July 2005

Re. Andaman & Nicobar Islands 1: Violation of Supreme Court Orders and
Marginalisation
of the Jarawa

Dear Mrs. Gandhi,

We the undersigned are concerned individuals who have been following events
in the Andaman Islands for decades. We are writing this urgent letter to
draw your attention to the rapidly deteriorating situation in several
respects in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These pertain to the disregard
of Supreme Court Orders of May 2002 and the continued marginalization of the
extremely threatened indigenous Jarawa community.

I. Ongoing Violation Of Supreme Court Orders

The Supreme Court of the country had, in May 2002, passed landmark orders
aimed at protecting the fragile environment and vulnerable indigenous
communities of these islands. Unfortunately, more than three years later,
some key parts of these orders continue to be blatantly violated by the A&N
Administration. These include, among others:

a) Non-implementation of an inner line area (ILA) regime, which is
vital for restricting further influx and population growth in the islands.
Note that almost two decades ago, in 1987, the Island Development Authority
under the leadership of Sri Rajiv Gandhi had concluded: “the recent level of
population of 2.5 lakhs and its increase due to natural growth had already
been at the limit of the carrying capacity and any significant growth beyond
natural growth would be totally inadvisable.” Accordingly, the IDA
formulated a scheme to check “population explosion in A&N Islands.” The
Honorable Supreme Court’s order on 7th May, 2002 is identical to the IDA
plan given above, which was not implemented because of the tragic demise of
the PM. Like the IDA, the court orders recognized the crucial fact that the
carrying capacity of the islands has been far exceeded, and reducing the
influx of immigrants is the first vital step toward ensuring the long term
security of the Andamans’ inhabitants.

b) The Supreme Court had ordered the closure of those parts of the
Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) that run along and through the forests of the
Jarawa Tribal Reserve. This order was hailed by many experts as an extremely
important step toward ensuring the long-term survival of the threatened
Jarawa community, who now number around 250. The ATR has become a leading
vector for introducing undesirable influences such as alien foods,
addictives, diseases and sexual exploitation, to the Jarawa. Unfortunately
the ATR remains open, in gross violation of SC orders and in complete
disregard for the rights and the future of the Jarawa.

c) Likewise, the A&N administration has made very little effort to
enforce other aspects of the Supreme Court orders, dealing with appropriate
construction technology for the islands and reduction in mining of sand from
the island’s beaches. Had such orders instead been implemented, earthquake
damage to buildings and tsunami damage to farmers’ fields would have been
far less.

A related issue has recently arisen. The Supreme Court based its orders on
the recommendations of the Shekhar Singh Commission, which the court
established. Both the defendants—the Ministry of Environment and Forests—and
the litigants nominated Dr. Singh as the Supreme Court’s Commissioner. His
report was based on comprehensive, detailed and transparent consultations
with all concerned. In a new and disturbing development, Sri Manoranjan
Bhakta, the Hon. Member of Parliament from the islands, has demanded that
the Shekhar Singh Commission report be reviewed, and we are astonished to
learn that the A&N administration endorses this move. The A&N administration
appears to have no faith in the Government of India’s ministries and in the
highest court of the land. It is conveying to the Andaman’s public the
following message: orders of the Supreme Court and the rule of law have no
value. The future implications of such disregard can well be imagined.

Failure to implement the IDA’s decisions and the Supreme Court Orders have
resulted in severe water scarcity, soil erosion, destruction of corals from
silt runoff from denuded hillsides, and dangers of poaching and encroachment
in the Jarawa reserve, the only pristine forest left. To make matters worse,
the A&N administration has used the tsunami as an excuse to unleash the most
extraordinarily ill-conceived projects on the Andaman Islands, such as
construction of mud walls to keep off tsunamis. Experts agree that the mud
walls have not a hope of achieving their purpose, and instead are simply
smothering coral reefs with mud. Another astonishing project, the lining of
beds of perennial streams in South Andaman with concrete, has been protested
by locals because it prevents percolation of water into the water table and
will exacerbate the already acute water problem. We are still awaiting
further action from Andaman administration on this matter.





II) Continued Marginalisation Of The Jarawa Community

A number of incidents in recent months indicate that the extremely
vulnerable Jarawa community is facing increased threats. Given their status
as a community of great interest to the entire world—the Andaman aboriginals
are recognized as being the last remnants of the first humans in Asia,
having occupied the islands for upward of 60,000 years—the failure to
protect them constitutes a highly visible instance of the Indian government’
s failures in the realm of human rights.

Poaching of vital resources such as wild pig and honey from within the
Jarawa Reserve continues, often in connivance with law enforcement
personnel. In May of this year, poachers illegally entered the Jarawa
reserve and stole honey that the Jarawa had stored. Honey, which the Jarawa
collect with special skills and at great risk, is priceless to them for its
nutritional and spiritual value. The authorities did not punish the
intruders or the poachers—instead; they forcibly moved the Jarawa band to a
different location. Such high-handed action is completely contrary to the
A&N administration’s own Jarawa Policy, now rendered into law.

Further, an alarming increase is evident in the inducements offered to the
Jarawa by local villagers in exchange of vital forest produce. These
inducements include addictives peddled by unscrupulous individuals to create
dependencies, so that Jarawa will be forced to bring out their most
essential produce to feed their addictions. The scale of poaching is also
far greater than before, with both the police and the social workers either
complicit or callous to these developments. Repeated reports emerge of
intoxicated Jarawa women being available for sex. The policy directives for
training and sensitization of personnel and villagers regarding the rights
and privileges of the Jarawa have been completely ignored.

Again, the failure is one of implementation: the Jarawa policy formulated by
the Andaman administration in May 2004 and endorsed by the Kolkata High
Court is adequate to protect the Jarawa—if enforced. The following points
quoted from the Jarawa Policy document clearly demonstrate the extent to
which the administration has contravened its own stated intentions:

The policy of maximum autonomy to the Jarawas with minimum and regulated
intervention shall be adopted by the Government towards the Jarawa.
The quality of intervention with Jarawas will be managed with care and
sensitivity through suitably trained and re-oriented personnel, in
consultation with and evaluation by anthropologists and experts.
No exploitation of natural resources within the Jarawa reserve by any non-tr
ibal including Government agencies will be allowed. Necessary measures
shall be initiated to curb even occasional extraction of resources from the
Jarawa territory by the non-Jarawas. The A& N Islands (Protection of
Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 shall be amended to provide stringent
punishment for poaching in the Jarawa territory and for exploitation of the
Jarawas.

The noblest of stated intentions look hypocritical when no effort is made to
implement them. If instead the necessary measures to execute these wise
policy directives are effectively put in place, the Jarawa have a chance of
well-being and security within their forest home. We strongly urge the
creation of an empowered local body consisting of well-known anthropologists
and NGOs that the administration is required to consult prior to taking any
action regarding the Jarawa. The body will help the administration
sensitively implement the legally mandated policies pertaining to the
Jarawa.

We request you to urgently look into these matters and ensure that:
● Immediate steps are taken for the implementation of the May 2002 orders of
the Hon. Supreme Court
● Environmental clearance is mandated before the administration can embark
on projects with a potential for damaging vital natural resources
● The Jarawa Policy is rigorously implemented and the rights and
survival of the Jarawa made a priority issue.


Yours sincerely,


Samir Acharya
Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology, Port Blair, A & N Islands



Pankaj Sekhsaria
Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group
Author of Troubled Islands, 2003


Dr. Madhusree Mukherjee
Author of Land of Naked People, 2003


Dr. Sita Venkateswar
Anthropologist and Senior Lecturer, Massey University, New Zealand
Author of Development and Ethnocide: Colonial Practices in the Andaman
Islands, 2004


Dr. Simron Singh
Research Fellow, IFF Dept. of Social Ecology, Austria
Author of In the Sea of Influence: A World System Perspective of the Nicobar
Islands, 2003




Dr. Vishvajit Pandya
Anthropologist and Professor, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Communication
and Technology, Ahmedabad
Author of Above the Forest, 1993


Rasheed Yusoof
Vice-President, Nicobari Youth Association, Kamorta, Nicobar Islands


Manish Chandi
Andaman Nicobar Environmental Team, A & N Islands


Dr. Harry Andrews
Andaman Nicobar Environmental Team, A & N Islands


Debi Goenka
Executive Trustee, Conservation Action Trust, Mumbai


Bitu Sehgal
Editor, Sanctuary Asia Magazine, Mumbai


Shyam Chainani
Honorary Secretary, Bombay Environmental Action Group, Mumbai