http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/andaman/index.html

October 29, 2003
Tourism to hasten tribals' doom
By Shailesh Shekhar

Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan's grand plan to bring the Andamans on
India's tourist circuit could sound the death knell for tribals of
the region.

The archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, which has played home to six
tribal groups for about 20,000 years, is proposed to become
a "selective" tourist destination as per the tourism policy envisaged
for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The high-value, low-volume tourism potential of the region
notwithstanding, experts fear the cost of development will have to be
borne by these aboriginals.

The past 150 years have seen the tribals become a victim of
exploitation, first by the British and then later, by the local
administration, by its lackadaisical approach to their welfare.

Slowly and silently, the government's efforts to being the tribals to
the mainstream have only resulted in their numbers getting diminished
with each passing year.

The Great Andamanese tribe, once over 4,800-strong now stands at a
dismal 46; the Onges have been reduced to 96; the Shompens have been
gravely affected and, by now, all accept the Jarawas are on the death
road.

Samir Acharya of Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE), which
has been working overtime to protect tribals' interests, says the
government's efforts over many decades to 'tame and civilize the
tribals and bring them into the mainstream' have rather resulted in
hurting them.

Experts say the tribals in the archipelago have been on the wrong
side of most of the development plans drawn for the region so far.
The government sees the proposed tourism plan fuelling development in
the region.

"We are trying to develop the Andaman into a low volume, high yield
tourist zone," says Andaman and Nicobar Island's Lieutenant-Governor
N N Jha.

Even Jagmohan insists the tourism plan is crucial for the region and
it will not hurt the tribals. "The tribes are governed and protected
by local laws. It is for the local administration to ensure its
implementation", he says. "The plan is to de-reserve 10 islands,
relax the coastal regulation zone, reduce airfare and enhance
investment limits".

Strangely, even the Union Tribal Welfare Minister Jual Oram is one
with the Tourism Minister on the Andaman plan. Tourism should happen.
It will not disturb the tribals. They are a little away. Moreover, we
will have restrictions."

Obviously, the minister is unaware of the details. Among the 10
islands that are to be opened for tourism is also Little Andaman
where the Onges were resettled in an attempt to alienate them from
the mainstream.
However, both the ministers' claims fail the moment you are in
Andamans. The local administration there continues to deal with the
aborigines in a manner that has done little good to them. Examples
abound of the times the administrators themselves became the
violators.
(HindustanTimes.com has with it an April 2003 video clip of the
Islands' Chief Secretary Pradeep Singh taking a foreigner friend and
a few fellow officers on a joy ride aboard a ship to the prohibited
Sentinalese Island.
"You need a valid pass to enter into the restricted zone", says
Tribal Welfare Director S A Awaradi. "Five kilometres from high tide
mark into the sea is Tribal Reserve." But who can stop the top man?
The tribal areas are part of his administrative domain.)
The local NGOs have been trying to secure the interest of the
tribals. On a petition from the SANE vis-à-vis the Jarawas, the
Calcutta High Court in its interim order "disallowed interaction with
the Jarawas and allowed medical aid for them near their residence,"
says Mr Awaradi. "…but a policy on the Jarawas is "still a way to go."
The local anthropologists who have been working with the tribals
say, "the Jarawas are already in touch with the settlers around their
habitation. Nothing can prevent them from coming out now. Any further
development or influx in their areas will only hasten the process of
their disintegration. We will probably have the archipelago as a
successful tourist destination but only at the cost of the
aborigines."