Sentinelese brandishing bows and arrows near the bodies-does it mean that
they were responsible for the killing?

-Aletha

On 2/6/06, Miriam Ross <mr@...> wrote:
>
>
>
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-02-\
06T141417Z_01_DEL297972_RTRUKOC_0_UK-INDIA-TRIBE.xml&archived=False
>
> "Stone Age" Indian tribe kills two fishermen
> Mon Feb 6, 2006 2:14 PM GMT172
> Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS
>
> NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Members of one of the world's most primitive
> and isolated tribes have killed two fishermen who strayed on to their
> island in India's Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, a senior
> government official said on Monday.
>
> Coast guards spotted two bodies buried in sand last month on North
> Sentinel Island, 40 km (25 miles) west of the island chain's capital,
> Port Blair, said chief administrator D. S. Negi.
>
> A group of about 20 Sentinelese tribes people were surrounding them,
> Negi said. "They (the tribals) were naked and carrying bows and
> arrows," he told Reuters by telephone.
>
> The Indian government has banned anyone from going near Sentinel
> Island where about 250 tribe members live a hunter-gathering
> lifestyle little changed since the Stone Age.
>
> Negi said the he had no knowledge of any previous killing of
> outsiders by the islanders. He said the fishermen, a young boy and an
> older man -- who lived in Port Blair -- had probably drifted towards
> the island without realising their mistake.
>
> "The relatives of the dead wanted to see the bodies so we showed them
> through binoculars. But that's all that we can do," Negi said. "We
> can't retrieve the bodies. No one is allowed to go near the tribals.
> The bodies will rot on the beach."
>
> Survival International, a worldwide group for tribal rights, blamed
> officials for the incident, saying people from nearby islands head to
> Sentinel to hunt for lobsters.
>
> "These tragic deaths could have been avoided if authorities had been
> enforcing the law," Stephen Corry, the organisation's director, said
> in a statement.
>
> But Negi said authorities were careful to protect the islanders, and
> local environmentalist Samir Acharya praised police and coastguard
> officers for behaving with courage and restraint.
>
> "In spite of great pressure from political leaders and the public,
> they refused to use force to retrieve the bodies," he said. "That
> took some guts."
> --
>
> We help tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and
> determine their own futures.
>
> Survival International
> 6 Charterhouse Buildings
> London EC1M 7ET
> UK
>
> Tel: (+44) (0)20 7687 8700
> Fax: (+44) (0)20 7687 8701
> www.survival-international.org
>
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