Dear friends,
I'm a new entrant to andaman-nicobar group. I read through some of
the messages that were posted by others and find this area quite
interesting.
Since my research interests have a lot to do with the status-quo of
the indigenous population and the natural environment on which they
are dependent, I'm just adding a small comment to all the previous
discussions that I read in the Message List.

We want to transform people/societies and groups the way we want to
see them i.e. the socially desirable way. That is what culture does
to us in the name of getting civilised. Perhaps that is why
governments/ states/ministers attempt to change tribal coomunities
regardless of whether they wish to or not thinking that it would do
good to them in the long run.

thanks
Ananya Mukherjee




-- In andamanicobar@..., Pankaj Sekhsaria
<pankajs@v...> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> As a continuation of the series that HT.com is doing on the
situation In the
> Andaman & Nicobar Islands, they are now carrying another set of
articles in its 2nd part .
>
> Pasted below is the first of these which can also be accessed at the
> following link
> http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/andaman/scorder.html
>
>
> SC ORDER FAILS TO BLOCK KILLER ROAD
> by Pankaj Sekhsaria | Tuesday, November 11, 2003
>
> The Jarawas have opposed it for three decades; environmentalists and
> anthropologists believe it will bring doom to the Jarawas and the
forests of
> the islands; and the Supreme Court of the country, too, has ordered
it shut.
> This is about the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) that is slowly but
surely pushing
> into oblivion the Jarawas, one of the most threatened human
communities in
> the world today and the original inhabitants of the Andaman Islands.
> The Jarawa is a small indigenous community of Negrito origin that
has lived,
> survived and flourished in the Andaman forests for at least 20,000
years.
> Little is known of them, their history and origin; of how they live
in the
> forests, and what is their social structure. What is, however,
known for
> sure is that they are being pushed to the brink by insensitive
policies and
> interventions; typified, most significantly, by the construction and
> continued operation of the ATR.
> The ATR connects Port Blair, the capital city of the Andaman and
Nicobar
> Islands to the northern most town of Diglipur located 340 kms away.
In the
> process it rips through the lands, the forests, and the very lives
of the
> Jarawas. This road has, over three decades, facilitated the
destruction of
> hundreds of sq kms of pristine evergreen forests that are critical
for the
> survival of the Jarawa; it has sustained the rapacious timber
industry here
> for decades; it has forcefully taken away from them their forests
and
> traditional homelands; it has brought them disease and death and is
even now
> bringing into their lives the worst of vices that includes tobacco,
gutka,
> alcohol and now, reportedly, even sexual exploitation of their
women.
> In May 2002, the Supreme Court of India passed a set of landmark
orders
> related to the islands, offering an opportunity in the interests of
its
> fragile environment and threatened communities such as the Jarawa
that live
> here. According to one of these orders, that part of the ATR that
runs
> through or along the forests of the Jarawa, the Jarawa Reserve, was
to be
> closed to all traffic within three months. That should have been
August
> 2002.
> One can understand the neglect of the will of the Jarawa and the
opinion of
> a bunch of environmentalists. There is little, however, to explain
how and
> why a Supreme Court order passed in May 2002 still remains
unimplemented
> even today, more than a year after the deadline for its
implementation has
> passed.
> The Jarawas continue to be subjected to innumerable, untold risks
as the
> Andaman and Nicobar Islands' administration keeps the road be open
and
> allows traffic on it. A historical opportunity to protect the
Jarawa and
> ensure their long term survival is being willfully let off and
sadly, its
> happening with continued disregard for the wishes of the apex court
of the
> country!
>
> [Pankaj Sekhsaria is the author of the book 'Troubled Islands -
Writings on
> the indigenous peoples and environment of the Andaman & Nicobar
Islands']
>
>
>
>
>
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
> 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> Pune 411004
> India
> Tel: + 91 20 5654239 / 5675450
> Fax: 5654239
> Email: pankajs@v...
>
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
> 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> Pune 411004
> India
> Tel: + 91 20 5654239 / 5675450
> Fax: 5654239
> Email: pankajs@v...
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]