Forwarding a mail from the DNRM list which discusses the issue of derogatory
terms used in the draft national policy of tribals earlier raised by Sanjoy.
Madhu
----- Original Message -----
"DNRM" <dnrm@...>
From: Rajesh R [mailto:rajeshr@...]
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 4:00 PM
To: dnrm@...
Subject: Archaic visions: India's Draft National Policy on Tribals
[Thanks to Dunu Roy for sending us three important notes from ACHR on the
Draft Tribal Policy. The first note is given below. Others will follow in
separate mails. - Moderator]
Archaic visions:
India's Draft National Policy on Tribals
[A weekly feature service of Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR)]
C-3/441-C (Adjoining C-3 DESU Complaint Office), Janakpuri, New
Delhi-110058, India
Phone: +91-11-25620583, 25503626; Fax: +91-11-25620583
Website: www.achrweb.org; Email: features@...
Index: ACHRF/29/2004
Embargoed for: 14 July 2004
"I wish that you would issue instructions to your translation Committee
that the translation of Scheduled Tribes should be Adivasi (literally
meaning original inhabitants or indigenous peoples). The word Adivasi has
grace. I do not understand why this old abusive epithet of Banjati (forest
dwellers) is being used in regard to them - for till recently it meant
uncivilised barbarians ..... In my opinion, it should be Adivasi. I am an
Adivasi, I call myself an Adivasi. I cannot understand why you wish to give
us another name. The fact is that the name Adivasi would be welcome to us" -
Mr Jaipal Singh, a member of the Constituent Assembly directly addressing
the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad.
Since the President of India issued the first notification to recognise the
Scheduled Tribes in 1950, India had no policy to deal with indigenous and
tribal peoples of the country. The Scheduled Tribes constituted about 8.1%
of the total population according to 1991 census and remain in the lowest
ladder of the society in all respects. The government of India has issued a
Draft National Policy on Tribals and is presently inviting public comments.
The term "Tribe" is nowhere defined in the Constitution of India and in fact
there is no satisfactory definition anywhere. The Draft National Policy on
Tribal provides that the characteristics considered by the President for
notifying any tribe as "Scheduled Tribe" are the tribes' primitive traits,
distinctive culture, shyness with the public at large, geographical
isolation and social and economic backwardness.
The government of India identifies all Scheduled Tribes as primitive races.
In the Hindi text of the Constitution of India, the Scheduled Tribes is
translated as Adimjati, literally meaning "primitive races". Dr Rajendra
Prasad, first President of India suggested Adimajati as a translation for
the Scheduled Tribes as a compromised text by stating that it was used in
Bihar. Mr Jaipal Singh and Mr A V Takkar insisted on the use of the word
"Adivasi" instead of "Vanjati" to describe the Scheduled Tribes during the
debates at the Constituent Assembly.
The use of "insensitive" and "derogative" terms such as "Primitive Tribal
Groups" in the Draft National Policy on Tribals is antithetical to the
universally recognised principles on the dignity and equality inherent in
all human beings. The use of the term "primitive" fails to secure
understanding of and respect for the dignity of the human person. Certain
"derogative" terminologies are no longer acceptable in the lexicon of
civilised societies.
The report of the "Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (other than Assam)
Sub-Committee" of the Constituent Assembly, was more progressive and used
the term aboriginals to describe the Scheduled Tribes. "The Scheduled Areas
and Scheduled Tribes Commission" appointed by President of India in
pursuance of the provision of the Article 339 of the Constitution of India
in its report in 1961 stated that "Scheduled Tribes" are known as indigenous
peoples under international law. The government of India had ratified the
ILO Convention No 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent
Countries in 1958.
What is most disturbing is the fact that the Draft National Policy advocates
assimilation of vulnerable communities amongst indigenous and tribal
peoples, the so called Primitive Tribal Groups. As the third preambular
paragraph of the ILO Convention No 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in
Independent Countries states "the developments which have taken place in
international law since 1957, as well as developments in the situation of
indigenous and tribal peoples in all regions of the world, have made it
appropriate to adopt new international standards on the subject with a view
to removing the assimilationist orientation of the earlier standards". The
policy of assimilation violates the cultural rights of the groups.
There are 75 indigenous groups who are described as Primitive Tribal Groups.
The 10th plan of the government of India lucidly describes the problems of
these vulnerable communities:"A decline in their sustenance base and the
resultant food insecurity, malnutrition and ill-health force them to live in
the most fragile living conditions and some of them are even under the
threat of getting extinct. Prominent examples in this context are the
Bay-Islanders like the Great Andamanese, Shompens, Jarawas, Sentinelese of
the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Even some of the mainland groups which can be
cited in this context like the Bondos of Orissa, Cholanaickans of Kerala,
the Abujhmarias of Chhattisgarh, the Birhors of Jharkhand are also
dwindling". In a reply in the Lok Sabha on 31 July 2001, then Minister for
Tribal Affairs stated that "The National Commission on Population has
constituted four sub-groups for detailed examination of the demographic
problems and formulation of concrete proposals."
The Draft National Policy on Tribals also fails to refer to the denotified
tribals. The British India adopted the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 to
identified certain groups as criminal tribes. The Act was racist. In 1952,
Government of India officially "denotified" the stigmatised ones but enacted
the Habitual Offender's Act which is not much different from the Criminal
Tribes Act of 1871. Both the Criminal Tribes Act and the Habital Offenders
Act negate the universally proclaimed principles that "all human being are
born free and equal". The listing of certain tribes under the Habitual
Offenders Act negates the cardinal principle of the crimina justice system -
the presumption of innocence before proven guilty.
The five year plans to rehabilitate the Denotified Tribes have failed. In
the first five year plan, the Planning Commission made a provision of Rs.
3.5 crores for the resettlement of ex-criminal tribes and for training them
in the ways of settled community life. In the second plan, a provision of
Rs. 2.94 crores was made. The 3rd Five Year Plan allocated "Rs. 4 crores.
During the 4th Five Year Plan, a plan outlay of Rs 4.5 crores was made.
Thereafter, no specific programmes for the was included in the Five Year
Plans. This is despite the fact that the Planning Commission in the Third
Five Year Plan urged that "In view of the small results achieved thus far in
rehabilitating denotified tribes, it is considered that their needs should
be studied in each area at close range and suitable programmes should be
formulated, keeping in view the long-term and complex nature of the problems
involved". Both the National Human Rights Commission of India and the
National Commission on the Review on the Working of the Constitution made
specific recommendations on the Denotified Tribes /Communities and Nomadic
and Semi-nomadic Tribes/Communities about two years agos but failed to evoke
positive response from the Central government and the state governments.
Although the Draft National Policy envisages to halt "stigmatisation" of the
so called Primitive Tribes, one wonders as to how such stigmatisation can be
halted when the Draft National Policy uses such pejorative terms. A Draft
National Policy must conform with existing international standards which
secure understanding of and respect for the dignity of the human person and
not provide impetus to archaic notions which promote the doctrines of racial
superiority.
The Draft National Policy on Tribals should use the term "indigenous and
tribal peoples" consistent with India's obligation as a ratifying party to
the ILO Convention No 107 and "vulnerable groups among indigenous and tribal
peoples" to describe the socalled "primitive tribes." In addition, the
characteristics given by President of India to identify "scheduled tribes"
be deleted and the characteristics accorded under ILO Convention No 107 and
ILO Convention No 169 be adopted to describe these communities. The National
Policy on Tribals must abandon any policy of assimilation with regard to the
vulnerable groups amongst indigenous and tribal peoples, provide mechanisms
for follow up and implementation of the recommendations of the sub-groups of
the National Commission on Populations on the demographic problems of these
vulnerable groups, conduct evaluation of the schemes undertaken for the
development of the so-called Primitive Tribal Groups with a view to improve
implementation of the existing schemes and include the denotified tribes
under its Five Year Plans programmes.
(To be continued)
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since we all come from different backgrounds (please here i may refer to
academic lines of thinking) some words take on a different hue according to
the academic/layman's lines one is thinking on. Well in the andamans we were
bascially discussing the Jarawas and how can we help them and how can one
fight certain rules, laws, changes that we(us the yahoo group people) seem
to feel might affect them and the islands as a whole (environmentally). So
the majority would refer to us or the govt officials and thus the divide, us
and them, and thus this would mean the category for convenience
& i do agree with you Kanchan when you say the native andaman islanders shd
make their own decisions. But atthe same time one has to make them aware of
the various issues surrounding them, changes that can come into their
lifstyles if they chose to join the"mainstream" (i like that word better
than majority and it makes more sense than using majority). And i also would
agree when one would bring up the question who comprises the mainstream
which includes resettlers who have now become the "sons of thesoil" so to
speak
And Kanchan i haven't read your article and confess to ignorance with regard
to this.(if you could mail it to me i would love to read it) I usually refer
to some of the academic artciles written in anthropological journals and
sometimes articles that come out in news magazines where usually the first
two paras almost (:-)) invariably after a geographical introduction of the
islands jumps onto the british introduction of syphillisand its desruction
ofthe andaman natives (it did do thatbut a count of who all were treated,
who died has been listed and i dont discount the effects of that suffering
(which they did not introduce forcibly unlike small pox introduce to wipe
out the American indians bythe US soldiers ;and the medical field then was
still trying to grasp epidmiological implications)and then straight to
present day conditions. Hence my loosely construed statement that "nobody
says anything about this"-my apologies
-----Original Message-----
From: kanchan mukhopadhyay [mailto:kmukho@...]
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 8:59 PM
To: andamanicobar@...
Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
The debate is becoming interesting, I must thank all the participants. I
would react briefly to two issues: 1) copying and joining the majority and
2) change in the the paradigms of change.
On the first issue I have a problem; problem of identifying the majority in
a plural society. When we talk of rural-urban dichotomy, whom we consider
majority? And when we talk of linguistic or religious groups in India, dont
we use the term majority to mean something else? Which majority are we
talking of when we are discussing the pre-colonial native islanders of the
Andamans? Are we constructing a category of 'majority' for our convenience?
Cultural and social changes are inevitable for any human group, the native
Andaman islanders are also subjected to those processes. The question is,
who is determining the direction and pace of change for them? Shouldn't they
be allowed to take 'informed' decisions for themselves?
Coming to the second issue, I feel Aletha is correct in saying that the
paradigm did not change much after 1947; the priorities remained largely
same. And please dont say "nobody ever says anything" about this. I
personally have commented in an article that the change was primarily in
rhetoric, while the Brits were 'civilising' them, the Indians were trying to
bring them closer to 'mainstream'; programmes for colonising the islands and
their natural resources continued.
Aletha Tavares <aletha@...> wrote:
right it is semantics and splitting of hair-when i refered to indigenous i
meant people who have been living there for generations- alot of
thepopulation that had been settled there by the brits "free prisoners"
could now alos be regarded as indigenous:-)
laser printing good quality is still a copy. as humans we have not only
copied but also improvised and sometimes also destroyed. We are but copies
of our parents but at the same time we have improvised on some things-and
let gone some of the values-or else in today's world we would not be having
dilemmas that our parents may or may nothave had. & do remember that the
majority is not always right, right? If that were true then lets shun the
entire german populace for supporting hitler!
As for the brits, i am no upholder of they did, but neither will i close my
eyes and label them all as scoundrels-read some of their journals-nobody
ever says anything to what the indian govt did going abt in the same
circle-anyway thats the way i see things -both sides have their good and bad
points
and i never meant to be condescending by using the words lost children-i
apologise if itsoudned like that! i have seen kids abroad being taught
certain values and being instilled with certain traditional stuff which they
can hardlyidentify with-especially when they see so much other stuff around
them-they end up being caught not understanding their traditions without a
context and wondering why in heavens name their parents moved to a better
place if they wanted the same stuff they had in india and very few parents
sit down and explain the relevance of such values, traditions, customs, etc.
and this is waht i meant by lost children/people-caught between not knowing
whatthey want 9which we also sail inthe same boat sometimes:-)
Butthanks for writing al this down sometimes we say things without knowing
what context the other person will read it in-which i must sai i also often
accuse people of!
-----Original Message-----
From: devi@... [mailto:devi@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 5:04 PM
To: andamanicobar@...
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
I have some difficulty -it may mere semantics, but it also betrays a certain
inherent problems with
our approach. How does one find out if a person is a "true indigenous"
person?
Fundamental to the success of human beings as a species is their ability to
copy what others are
doing and pass it down the generation. If this hypothesis is accepted then
what is wrong in a
group joining the "majority"?
As to the Britishers stopping in their quest to "civilise" the Andamanese, I
think it is very naive
to think that they stopped because they saw the harm they were doing. Most
likely the approch was
that there was no rewards to be had in an island full of natives who were
willing to kill and who
had mosquitoes to aid them by spreading malaria.
As to aborginal being "lost children" this agian betrays an attitude of
condescension - the very
thing we wish to avoid. But I agree that we need to feel our way slowly
for'ard - or at least what
we take to be for'ard and hope for the best.
devi
----- Original Message -----
From: Aletha Tavares
To: andamanicobar@...
Sent: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 17:24:06 +0530
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
The facts seem to be a replay of the American Natives in the US- they
had got addicted to whisky and many other vices.Their art was also
used as tourist stuff and is still being sold. Altho i can't say what
their condition today is, many have moved into main stream life or
live out in reservations.
The true indigenous people of theland very often land up like this,
their very existence is absorbed into the life of the "majority",
losing out their identity, and often ending up torn between two
worlds-one that they are brought up in and the other they have to
survive and work in-often leading to very mixed up and frustrated
individuals lashing out and thus seen by the world at large as being
responsible for the filth, poverty, no-gooders, etc that the present
society has to live with. Condescendingly trying to do good but
pushing them further and further away into an abyss that can only seem
to make them crawl out to survive.
The change has to come from within-but it should be guided by people
with a vision that encompasses the old and the new without rigidity
and not essentially by those trying to be overly good and bringing
them into the so called "civilized "world. All this can take time
during which a lot is lost and is also gained, but those overseeing it
should be able to see it thru, step by step (there may be no candles
to see one's way thru this darkness but just by feel, observation and
a few tentative steps)
The british retracted from their "civilising" the Andamanese when they
saw the fatal results- slowed the pace down and stopped total
annihilation. Now we seem to be going back into that karmic circle
with the Jarawas. So many good thots seem to have come up thru all
these discussions, its time we put them down into a step by step
process along with the necessary action that needs to take place, that
can help them keep their identity without getting exploited, retain
their lifestyle without falling prey to the modern vices, learn to
distinguish and thus absorb and discard what is relevant to them and
not necessary to us and this can be done only withthe people
concerned-they are not children and they have seen and can udnerstand
what is happening around them. Or yes, they can end up like tha
aboriginals of Australia and the Native Amricans of the US-lost
children of their own homelands
aletha
----- Original Message -----
From: C.R Bijoy <rights@...>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:17:44 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
To: andamanicobar@...
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
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The debate is becoming interesting, I must thank all the participants. I would
react briefly to two issues: 1) copying and joining the majority and 2) change
in the the paradigms of change.
On the first issue I have a problem; problem of identifying the majority in a
plural society. When we talk of rural-urban dichotomy, whom we consider
majority? And when we talk of linguistic or religious groups in India, dont we
use the term majority to mean something else? Which majority are we talking of
when we are discussing the pre-colonial native islanders of the Andamans? Are we
constructing a category of 'majority' for our convenience?
Cultural and social changes are inevitable for any human group, the native
Andaman islanders are also subjected to those processes. The question is, who is
determining the direction and pace of change for them? Shouldn't they be allowed
to take 'informed' decisions for themselves?
Coming to the second issue, I feel Aletha is correct in saying that the paradigm
did not change much after 1947; the priorities remained largely same. And please
dont say "nobody ever says anything" about this. I personally have commented in
an article that the change was primarily in rhetoric, while the Brits were
'civilising' them, the Indians were trying to bring them closer to 'mainstream';
programmes for colonising the islands and their natural resources continued.
Aletha Tavares <aletha@...> wrote:
right it is semantics and splitting of hair-when i refered to indigenous i
meant people who have been living there for generations- alot of
thepopulation that had been settled there by the brits "free prisoners"
could now alos be regarded as indigenous:-)
laser printing good quality is still a copy. as humans we have not only
copied but also improvised and sometimes also destroyed. We are but copies
of our parents but at the same time we have improvised on some things-and
let gone some of the values-or else in today's world we would not be having
dilemmas that our parents may or may nothave had. & do remember that the
majority is not always right, right? If that were true then lets shun the
entire german populace for supporting hitler!
As for the brits, i am no upholder of they did, but neither will i close my
eyes and label them all as scoundrels-read some of their journals-nobody
ever says anything to what the indian govt did going abt in the same
circle-anyway thats the way i see things -both sides have their good and bad
points
and i never meant to be condescending by using the words lost children-i
apologise if itsoudned like that! i have seen kids abroad being taught
certain values and being instilled with certain traditional stuff which they
can hardlyidentify with-especially when they see so much other stuff around
them-they end up being caught not understanding their traditions without a
context and wondering why in heavens name their parents moved to a better
place if they wanted the same stuff they had in india and very few parents
sit down and explain the relevance of such values, traditions, customs, etc.
and this is waht i meant by lost children/people-caught between not knowing
whatthey want 9which we also sail inthe same boat sometimes:-)
Butthanks for writing al this down sometimes we say things without knowing
what context the other person will read it in-which i must sai i also often
accuse people of!
-----Original Message-----
From: devi@... [mailto:devi@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 5:04 PM
To: andamanicobar@...
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
I have some difficulty -it may mere semantics, but it also betrays a certain
inherent problems with
our approach. How does one find out if a person is a "true indigenous"
person?
Fundamental to the success of human beings as a species is their ability to
copy what others are
doing and pass it down the generation. If this hypothesis is accepted then
what is wrong in a
group joining the "majority"?
As to the Britishers stopping in their quest to "civilise" the Andamanese, I
think it is very naive
to think that they stopped because they saw the harm they were doing. Most
likely the approch was
that there was no rewards to be had in an island full of natives who were
willing to kill and who
had mosquitoes to aid them by spreading malaria.
As to aborginal being "lost children" this agian betrays an attitude of
condescension - the very
thing we wish to avoid. But I agree that we need to feel our way slowly
for'ard - or at least what
we take to be for'ard and hope for the best.
devi
----- Original Message -----
From: Aletha Tavares
To: andamanicobar@...
Sent: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 17:24:06 +0530
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
The facts seem to be a replay of the American Natives in the US- they
had got addicted to whisky and many other vices.Their art was also
used as tourist stuff and is still being sold. Altho i can't say what
their condition today is, many have moved into main stream life or
live out in reservations.
The true indigenous people of theland very often land up like this,
their very existence is absorbed into the life of the "majority",
losing out their identity, and often ending up torn between two
worlds-one that they are brought up in and the other they have to
survive and work in-often leading to very mixed up and frustrated
individuals lashing out and thus seen by the world at large as being
responsible for the filth, poverty, no-gooders, etc that the present
society has to live with. Condescendingly trying to do good but
pushing them further and further away into an abyss that can only seem
to make them crawl out to survive.
The change has to come from within-but it should be guided by people
with a vision that encompasses the old and the new without rigidity
and not essentially by those trying to be overly good and bringing
them into the so called "civilized "world. All this can take time
during which a lot is lost and is also gained, but those overseeing it
should be able to see it thru, step by step (there may be no candles
to see one's way thru this darkness but just by feel, observation and
a few tentative steps)
The british retracted from their "civilising" the Andamanese when they
saw the fatal results- slowed the pace down and stopped total
annihilation. Now we seem to be going back into that karmic circle
with the Jarawas. So many good thots seem to have come up thru all
these discussions, its time we put them down into a step by step
process along with the necessary action that needs to take place, that
can help them keep their identity without getting exploited, retain
their lifestyle without falling prey to the modern vices, learn to
distinguish and thus absorb and discard what is relevant to them and
not necessary to us and this can be done only withthe people
concerned-they are not children and they have seen and can udnerstand
what is happening around them. Or yes, they can end up like tha
aboriginals of Australia and the Native Amricans of the US-lost
children of their own homelands
aletha
----- Original Message -----
From: C.R Bijoy <rights@...>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:17:44 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
To: andamanicobar@...
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
________________________________
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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---------------------------------
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Pankaj and Friends:
There has been a series of earthquakes here this day and this is so far the most
intense of them. i wonder wheteher anybody felt thiese and any damages reported
to life and property(!).
See below.
R. Ashok Kumar
04/07/29 01:44: 4.53
ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
Epicenter: 12.415 95.013
MW 5.9
USGS MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION
Depth 3 No. of sta: 17
Moment Tensor; Scale 10**17 Nm
Mrr=-2.27 Mtt= 1.03
Mff= 1.25 Mrt=-2.71
Mrf=-6.16 Mtf= 1.25
Principal axes:
T Val= 7.07 Plg=36 Azm=120
N 0.10 6 26
P -7.17 54 288
Best Double Couple:Mo=7.1*10**17
NP1:Strike=238 Dip=11 Slip= -57
NP2: 25 81 -96
#######
######--------#--
###--------------###-
###----------------######
###-----------------#########
##------------------###########
#-------------------###########
##------- --------#############
#-------- P -------##############
#-------- ------###############
#-----------------###############
#----------------####### ######
---------------######## T #####
#-------------######### #####
------------#################
--------#################
-----################
--###############
#######
Explanation of Parameters
Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
The Andaman Express
July 3, 2004
Disaster Management Plan for the Islands
Port Blair,
A presentation was given today by SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and
Ecological Development Society) in the conference hall of Directorate of IP&
T on disaster mitigation plans in Port Blair in the context of The Indian
Earthquake Safety Initiative (IndESI), which is aimed at reducing the risks
posed by potential earthquakes in selected important cities in India. Sh.
Manu Gupta, and Sh. Rajesh Kaushik in their address pointed out to the
initiative taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI in selecting two
cities namely Shimla and Port Blair for the project. These two cities have
not been covered in the UNDP programme for earthquake risk reduction. SEEDS
plans to conduct surveys and collect necessary information from various
agencies in Andamans, carry out risk assessment, train persons in disaster
management and organise local and regional workshops.
The Deputy Commissioner (Andamans) stated that a draft Disaster Management
Plan was prepared for the islands. The Administration has taken initiatives
in preparing Disaster Management REgulations, setting up Disaster Management
Authority. In the 10th Five year plan a specific scheme on disaster
management is being implemented. He asked NGOs to launch community based
disaster management initiatives, help in retrofitting measures of hazardous
buildings and training programmes with emphasis on search and rescue by the
affected community. The SEEDS programme is likely to be initiated after
obtaining administrative approval and likely to be completed by Sept. 2005
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
Yahoo! Groups Links
---------------------------------
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
right it is semantics and splitting of hair-when i refered to indigenous i
meant people who have been living there for generations- alot of
thepopulation that had been settled there by the brits "free prisoners"
could now alos be regarded as indigenous:-)
laser printing good quality is still a copy. as humans we have not only
copied but also improvised and sometimes also destroyed. We are but copies
of our parents but at the same time we have improvised on some things-and
let gone some of the values-or else in today's world we would not be having
dilemmas that our parents may or may nothave had. & do remember that the
majority is not always right, right? If that were true then lets shun the
entire german populace for supporting hitler!
As for the brits, i am no upholder of they did, but neither will i close my
eyes and label them all as scoundrels-read some of their journals-nobody
ever says anything to what the indian govt did going abt in the same
circle-anyway thats the way i see things -both sides have their good and bad
points
and i never meant to be condescending by using the words lost children-i
apologise if itsoudned like that! i have seen kids abroad being taught
certain values and being instilled with certain traditional stuff which they
can hardlyidentify with-especially when they see so much other stuff around
them-they end up being caught not understanding their traditions without a
context and wondering why in heavens name their parents moved to a better
place if they wanted the same stuff they had in india and very few parents
sit down and explain the relevance of such values, traditions, customs, etc.
and this is waht i meant by lost children/people-caught between not knowing
whatthey want 9which we also sail inthe same boat sometimes:-)
Butthanks for writing al this down sometimes we say things without knowing
what context the other person will read it in-which i must sai i also often
accuse people of!
-----Original Message-----
From: devi@... [mailto:devi@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 5:04 PM
To: andamanicobar@...
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
I have some difficulty -it may mere semantics, but it also betrays a certain
inherent problems with
our approach. How does one find out if a person is a "true indigenous"
person?
Fundamental to the success of human beings as a species is their ability to
copy what others are
doing and pass it down the generation. If this hypothesis is accepted then
what is wrong in a
group joining the "majority"?
As to the Britishers stopping in their quest to "civilise" the Andamanese, I
think it is very naive
to think that they stopped because they saw the harm they were doing. Most
likely the approch was
that there was no rewards to be had in an island full of natives who were
willing to kill and who
had mosquitoes to aid them by spreading malaria.
As to aborginal being "lost children" this agian betrays an attitude of
condescension - the very
thing we wish to avoid. But I agree that we need to feel our way slowly
for'ard - or at least what
we take to be for'ard and hope for the best.
devi
----- Original Message -----
From: Aletha Tavares
To: andamanicobar@...
Sent: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 17:24:06 +0530
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
The facts seem to be a replay of the American Natives in the US- they
had got addicted to whisky and many other vices.Their art was also
used as tourist stuff and is still being sold. Altho i can't say what
their condition today is, many have moved into main stream life or
live out in reservations.
The true indigenous people of theland very often land up like this,
their very existence is absorbed into the life of the "majority",
losing out their identity, and often ending up torn between two
worlds-one that they are brought up in and the other they have to
survive and work in-often leading to very mixed up and frustrated
individuals lashing out and thus seen by the world at large as being
responsible for the filth, poverty, no-gooders, etc that the present
society has to live with. Condescendingly trying to do good but
pushing them further and further away into an abyss that can only seem
to make them crawl out to survive.
The change has to come from within-but it should be guided by people
with a vision that encompasses the old and the new without rigidity
and not essentially by those trying to be overly good and bringing
them into the so called "civilized "world. All this can take time
during which a lot is lost and is also gained, but those overseeing it
should be able to see it thru, step by step (there may be no candles
to see one's way thru this darkness but just by feel, observation and
a few tentative steps)
The british retracted from their "civilising" the Andamanese when they
saw the fatal results- slowed the pace down and stopped total
annihilation. Now we seem to be going back into that karmic circle
with the Jarawas. So many good thots seem to have come up thru all
these discussions, its time we put them down into a step by step
process along with the necessary action that needs to take place, that
can help them keep their identity without getting exploited, retain
their lifestyle without falling prey to the modern vices, learn to
distinguish and thus absorb and discard what is relevant to them and
not necessary to us and this can be done only withthe people
concerned-they are not children and they have seen and can udnerstand
what is happening around them. Or yes, they can end up like tha
aboriginals of Australia and the Native Amricans of the US-lost
children of their own homelands
aletha
----- Original Message -----
From: C.R Bijoy <rights@...>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:17:44 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
To: andamanicobar@...
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
________________________________
Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Links
I have some difficulty -it may mere semantics, but it also betrays a certain
inherent problems with
our approach. How does one find out if a person is a "true indigenous" person?
Fundamental to the success of human beings as a species is their ability to copy
what others are
doing and pass it down the generation. If this hypothesis is accepted then what
is wrong in a
group joining the "majority"?
As to the Britishers stopping in their quest to "civilise" the Andamanese, I
think it is very naive
to think that they stopped because they saw the harm they were doing. Most
likely the approch was
that there was no rewards to be had in an island full of natives who were
willing to kill and who
had mosquitoes to aid them by spreading malaria.
As to aborginal being "lost children" this agian betrays an attitude of
condescension - the very
thing we wish to avoid. But I agree that we need to feel our way slowly for'ard
- or at least what
we take to be for'ard and hope for the best.
devi
----- Original Message -----
From: Aletha Tavares
To: andamanicobar@...
Sent: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 17:24:06 +0530
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
The facts seem to be a replay of the American Natives in the US- they
had got addicted to whisky and many other vices.Their art was also
used as tourist stuff and is still being sold. Altho i can't say what
their condition today is, many have moved into main stream life or
live out in reservations.
The true indigenous people of theland very often land up like this,
their very existence is absorbed into the life of the "majority",
losing out their identity, and often ending up torn between two
worlds-one that they are brought up in and the other they have to
survive and work in-often leading to very mixed up and frustrated
individuals lashing out and thus seen by the world at large as being
responsible for the filth, poverty, no-gooders, etc that the present
society has to live with. Condescendingly trying to do good but
pushing them further and further away into an abyss that can only seem
to make them crawl out to survive.
The change has to come from within-but it should be guided by people
with a vision that encompasses the old and the new without rigidity
and not essentially by those trying to be overly good and bringing
them into the so called "civilized "world. All this can take time
during which a lot is lost and is also gained, but those overseeing it
should be able to see it thru, step by step (there may be no candles
to see one's way thru this darkness but just by feel, observation and
a few tentative steps)
The british retracted from their "civilising" the Andamanese when they
saw the fatal results- slowed the pace down and stopped total
annihilation. Now we seem to be going back into that karmic circle
with the Jarawas. So many good thots seem to have come up thru all
these discussions, its time we put them down into a step by step
process along with the necessary action that needs to take place, that
can help them keep their identity without getting exploited, retain
their lifestyle without falling prey to the modern vices, learn to
distinguish and thus absorb and discard what is relevant to them and
not necessary to us and this can be done only withthe people
concerned-they are not children and they have seen and can udnerstand
what is happening around them. Or yes, they can end up like tha
aboriginals of Australia and the Native Amricans of the US-lost
children of their own homelands
aletha
----- Original Message -----
From: C.R Bijoy <rights@...>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:17:44 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
To: andamanicobar@...
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
________________________________
Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
The facts seem to be a replay of the American Natives in the US- they
had got addicted to whisky and many other vices.Their art was also
used as tourist stuff and is still being sold. Altho i can't say what
their condition today is, many have moved into main stream life or
live out in reservations.
The true indigenous people of theland very often land up like this,
their very existence is absorbed into the life of the "majority",
losing out their identity, and often ending up torn between two
worlds-one that they are brought up in and the other they have to
survive and work in-often leading to very mixed up and frustrated
individuals lashing out and thus seen by the world at large as being
responsible for the filth, poverty, no-gooders, etc that the present
society has to live with. Condescendingly trying to do good but
pushing them further and further away into an abyss that can only seem
to make them crawl out to survive.
The change has to come from within-but it should be guided by people
with a vision that encompasses the old and the new without rigidity
and not essentially by those trying to be overly good and bringing
them into the so called "civilized "world. All this can take time
during which a lot is lost and is also gained, but those overseeing it
should be able to see it thru, step by step (there may be no candles
to see one's way thru this darkness but just by feel, observation and
a few tentative steps)
The british retracted from their "civilising" the Andamanese when they
saw the fatal results- slowed the pace down and stopped total
annihilation. Now we seem to be going back into that karmic circle
with the Jarawas. So many good thots seem to have come up thru all
these discussions, its time we put them down into a step by step
process along with the necessary action that needs to take place, that
can help them keep their identity without getting exploited, retain
their lifestyle without falling prey to the modern vices, learn to
distinguish and thus absorb and discard what is relevant to them and
not necessary to us and this can be done only withthe people
concerned-they are not children and they have seen and can udnerstand
what is happening around them. Or yes, they can end up like tha
aboriginals of Australia and the Native Amricans of the US-lost
children of their own homelands
aletha
----- Original Message -----
From: C.R Bijoy <rights@...>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:17:44 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [andamanicobar] Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
To: andamanicobar@...
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
________________________________
Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Can Aboriginals successfully find their place in modern Australia?
Before I went to Australia and met Aboriginals, I had a romantic image of
them and how they lived.
I imagined them to be a dark-skinned people, the men with bushy beards,
eking out a living in the country's outback.
Instead I found a lost people, bereft of their culture and struggling to
survive as outsiders in a European society they have no real hope of being
integrated in.
I went to Sydney to investigate how and why the death of an Aboriginal
teenager sparked Australia's worst riots in recent years.
Seventeen-year-old Thomas James Hickey, or TJ as he was known to family
and friends, died on Valentine's Day 2004.
He was impaled on a metal fence after falling off his bicycle near the
notorious Sydney suburb of Redfern, also known as The Block.
Rumours
No-one knows exactly what happened that day, but it's likely that TJ, who
had an outstanding warrant against him and cannabis in his pocket,
panicked at the sight of a patrol car and sped off as quickly as he could.
The following day The Block, a largely Aboriginal district where TJ lived,
erupted into violence amid rumours that the police had chased him to his
death. This is vehemently denied by the local police.
The violence lasted for hours and its intensity shocked the nation as it
was broadcast on TV screens across Australia. Forty officers were injured
in what became a running battle between Aboriginal youths and the police.
I spent one month with TJ's mother, Gail Hickey, and her six daughters.
Through them I hoped to get a sense of what life was like for Aboriginals
on The Block.
Gail's life is a daily grind; her husband is in jail and she survives on
government handouts. She doesn't have a home of her own, so spends her
time staying with family and friends. This isn't unusual within the
culture she comes from.
With no permanent home or fixed routine it's difficult to get the girls to
attend school regularly. It's the same story with many other Aboriginal
kids.
The Block is made up of a few inner-city streets that were handed over to
Aboriginals in the 1970s to run and manage themselves. The government of
the day bought run-down housing stock as a first step towards giving the
indigenous population the chance to determine their own affairs.
But the experiment hasn't exactly been a great success.
My taxi dropped me outside Redfern train station. I'd asked the driver to
take me to The Block but he told me he preferred to stop on the main road
as taxis are targeted there.
I was anxious about what I was going to find.
----------------------------
Key facts
Life expectancy for Aboriginals is 20 years less than for white Australians
Indigenous children have the same life expectancy as their white
counterparts had in 1900
Aboriginals account for 3% of Australia's population
They also make up 40% of Australia's prison population
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Fred Hollows Foundation
------------------------------
Despite having been to many run down areas all over the world I didn't
know what to expect from The Block - or its people.
Outside the station, watching over the shabby, main street were two police
officers standing in the baking sun. The police were a permanent fixture
during my five week stay here.
My first glimpse of the notorious Block was a group of men and women, some
obviously worse for drink, taking cover from the sun under a few trees.
They were sitting on crates, cardboard and an assortment of broken chairs,
drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. One man was on his back and seemed
to be semi-conscious.
Drugs
It may have been shocking but it certainly wasn't as dangerous as people
had made out. They were warm, friendly and everyone shook my hand as they
introduced themselves. My anxieties evaporated.
I asked whether the guy on his back was drunk but they told me he was on
heroin, which they say is as easy to get hold of on The Block as beer in a
pub.
I knew that alcoholism was a real problem in many Aboriginal communities,
but I was surprised to learn about the heroin problem.
I spoke to some of the riot ringleaders, who said that TJ's death had
brought to a head years of tensions with the local police. They claimed
they were second class citizens in their own land and that - sooner or
later - their frustrations were bound to spill over into violence
They said white Australia had it coming.
It seems extraordinary that many white Australians have never met, or even
seen, an Aboriginal. In Sydney they didn't appear to be integrated into
the city at all. I didn't see a single Aboriginal commuting on trains,
working in shops or even employed as a porter at my hotel.
Having spent a month with Gail Hickey and her family, I ended up feeling
that there is no easy solution to the problems facing Australia's
indigenous people.
Until Aboriginals themselves can find a way of managing their own affairs
more successfully, they are going to remain foreigners in their own land.
Just before I left Sydney I went to the opening of the new Redfern
community centre. It was ironic that at the launch, the organisers had to
bring in didgeridoo players from outside to entertain the guests. There
were no local Aboriginals who could provide this service.
It is also ironic that I was unable to find Aboriginal handicraft made in
Australia.
Tourists are going home with boomerangs made in China.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3856187.stm
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
David Akinsanya
Reporter, This World
Dear Samir,
Thank you very much for keeping track of a discussion which addresses people's
livlihood. I had joined this forum because I felt it was democratic and
emotional. You must have noticed the way people from different works of life
were getting interested and a wide spectrum of topics were being
discussed.Thanks to Pankaj for keeping us updated on the developments which is
most of the time forgotten by almost all of us from the main land.
You must be knowing that a lot of our tribal brothers are getting educated in
the A & N and they are leaving their villages in search of small jobs.They
sometimes feel embarressed to give their introduction as the representative of
any tribal community from A & N.Community Tourism as we have initiated in some
remote villages of East Himalaya have been successful in bringing back such
youth.This has also helped in developing a sense of pride in the host
communities.As I had mentioned that it is not neccessary to have tourism in
remote tribal areas but if tourism is being initiated,the meaningful
participation and ownership of the local communities should be confirmed.If some
livlihood process is being thought upon,give a chance to Community Tourism.
Yes,we do have a pre departure detailing process for tourists which includes the
Dos & Donts but a lesson on responsible tourism at the school level will be
helpful to the tourists as well as destinations in the long run.I have discussed
this in length with the the Chairman,CBSE.
Regarding the Seminar/Workshop we look forward to all the members of the group
as it will be the sincere views of the members which will be discussed and an
effort would be made to convince the administration in the right direction.
Regards/Raj
Dear Raj,
"Regarding visits to the tribal communities & being in the wrong forum, I
must bring to your notice that tourism is all about visiting destinations be
it natural or tribal or rural or urban. Are we in a position to decide the
movement of tourists to any area?Can we really stop the tourists from
visiting A & N?I believe we can atleast force the administration formulates
policies through which the benefits of tourism reach the local communities
living in the area."
Tourism to certain areas can and should be restricted if it harms that area
in a manner that is not desirable. Yes, what is harmful and not desirable
are subjective and that can be a subject matter of a separate discussion.
But a decision of what that is has to be made. Have we, the traditionally
non-residents of these islands, caused major harm to the tribals, ecology
and environment. Yes. I trust there is no dispute on that. Then we should
practice self restraint, and if that means saying no to visiting certain
places as tourists, so be it. By trying to ensure that the benefits of
tourism reach the local communities are we not, in a different manner,
trying to integrate them into our ways of living. Let's wait for the local
communities to make the first move to integrating themselves. Yes, we must
ensure that the administration formulates policies that take into account
every aspect of the lives and ways of the local communities.
"Regarding educating my tourists, it is we who are the tourists and it takes
generations to create a responsible tourist. It has to be contributed by the
parents, followed by the teachers and then by the travel trade to actually
to develop a responsible tourist community. Just formulating dos & donts
would be of no help."
Raj, who will first educate the parents and the teachers. And how. Are
children accompanying elders also not tourists and the most impressionable.
The travel trade probably has the fastest impact of imparted information to
the tourist. Request you to reconsider formulating the do's and don'ts.
I would welcome a seminar / workshop provided the issues to be discussed are
decided.
Samir
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
we need a campaign.
sh
--- msarin <msarin@...> wrote: > The term
'Primitive Tribal Group' is an official
> category for which special
> schemes are designed and funding provided (many
> states have lists of the
> tribes classified as 'PTGs' by their govts). It is
> therefore more than a
> casual use of offensive language. To get that
> changed, a campaign will need
> to be launched to get the govt to 'officially'
> abandon the term. That in
> turn requires building consensus on an alternative
> term for replacing
> 'PTGs'. Given the extreme vulnerability of some
> communities within the
> larger canvas of adivasi /indigenous people, I
> expect it is useful to
> distinguish them from the rest even for framing
> policies/programmes.
> Madhu
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: sanjoy hazarika <sanhaza@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 7:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Tribal Sub-Plans, PTGs
>
>
> On a specific point, one finds the phrase "Primitive
> Tribes", taken to refer to certain "tribal" groups,
> most offensive and smacking of a colonial mindset. I
> am not here referring to the use of the phrase in
> this
> egroup and this discussion but the general
> continuing
> use of it in government and other language and
> discourse. Surely in this day and age, we can
> develop
> a different phrase for these underprivileged groups.
>
> The phrase occurs several times in the Draft
> National
> Policy on Tribals, which should also be considered
> by
> this group. Some of us from the North East had
> critiqued and opposed large sections of this draft
> as
> unrepresentative, unjust, insensitive and downright
> offensive.
>
> Sanjoy Hazarika
>
> Vishvajit Pandya <pandyav@...> wrote: > Dear
> Friends:
> > I know for sure that Nicobarese at large do not
> fall
> > under the organization of AAJVS- only the
> "Primitive
> > Tribes" . What is under AAJVS functioning in
> Nicobar
> > is just the Shompens.
> >
> >
> > Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
> > Dear Friends,
> > There have been two very relevant and pertinent
> > queries (Manju and Gopa) on
> > the issue of the number of tribal individuals in
> the
> > islands and the
> > allocations of the money within the Tribal
> > sub-plans.
> >
> > I am myself not particularly conversant with the
> > details of this and would
> > like to request someone who knows more to help out
> > with understanding this.
> >
> > Are the figures of the money correct? Do the
> > Nicobaris also get included
> > under this category which is called 'primitive
> > tribes? If not then the
> > number of people we are talking about is only
> about
> > 1000, and the
> > calculations made by Gopa below end up being even
> > more conservative that
> > what the real picture will be.
> >
> > Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more
> > familiar with the structure
> > and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub
> > plans in the islands help
> > out with this?
> > pankaj
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
> > To: <andamanicobar@...>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
> > Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> > Tribal Sub-Plans
> >
> >
> > > Pankaj,
> > >
> > > As you know I am new to this group and have two
> > questions on this report:
> > >
> > > - Of the estimated tribal population of about
> > 30,000, the numbers of
> > members
> > > in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are
> > sub-1000. Which is the
> > > dominant tribe?
> > > - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people
> > doesn't quite sound right.
> > > That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per
> > individual over a five year
> > > period - what possibly could this be spent for?
> > >
> > > Warm regards
> > > Gopakumar
> > > 080 - 2528 4011
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> > > To: andamanicobar@...
> > > Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> > Tribal Sub-Plans
> > >
> > > From
> > > The Andaman Express
> > > July 7, 2004
> > >
> > > Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> > > Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore
> > has been earmarked for the
> > > tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component
> > for the 10th five year
> > plan
> > > in this island territory. The represents 14.68%
> of
> > the UT outlay for the
> > > 10th plan period, an official release said here.
> > >
> > > According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has
> > been utilised by various
> > > departments under Tribal sub plan during the
> year
> > 2003-2004. Under the
> > > Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the
> > proportion of teh
> > Scheduled
> > > tribe population in this territory.
> > > The A&N Administration through its 18
> departments
> > besides the Andaman Adim
> > > Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing
> various
> > plan programmes for the
> > > welfare and development of the schedule tribe
> > population of 29, 249. They
> > > constitute 8.27% of the total population of
> > 3,56,152.
> > > There islands with meandering creeks and
> evergreen
> > forests are abode to
> > many
> > > primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census
> > of 2001, the Onge
> > > population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and
> > the Sentinelese, though
> > > sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to
> be
> > 100 in numbers.
> > >
> > > AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous
> > organisation. It is fully
> > funded
> > > by the government. It is responsible for the
> > protection of Primitive
> > tribes
> > > of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has
> been
> > spent by the AAJVS for
> > > the various measures connected with the
> wellbeing
> > of the five primitive
> > > tribes during 2003-2004, the official
> > communication said.
> > > C/o Kalpavriksh
> > > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> > > 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> > > Pune 411004
> > > Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> > > Fax: 25654239
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
=== message truncated ===
___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!
Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself
http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Subject: [SIV Global:] Wastes are resources, not problems
SMALL ISLANDS VOICE
Do you live in a small island?
Tell us what you think.
***************************************************************************
Here are some more ideas about ways to reduce the amount of garbage
Produced.
Alice Leney writes about a programme to manage solid waste in Tarawa, the
capital of Kiribati, in the Central Pacific: First, our wastes must be
seen in
terms of resources, not problems. 'Garbage' or 'Rubbish' is a problem,
whereas
waste materials are things that can be used. In simple terms the waste
stream
contains three major components: (1) organic materials (plant and food
matter); (2) recyclable or reusable materials (typically metals, glass,
cardboard and some plastics); and (3) the remains.
Here in Kiribati, around 75% of the collected waste is plant matter (palm
leaves and small branches from gardens); the leftover food goes to feed
animals. About another 10% is easily recyclable, being metal, cardboard,
glass
or plastic bottles. The remains are mostly packaging of various sorts, and
discarded consumer items of many types.
The approach must concern separation of wastes, so that management is
immediately much easier. In the Kiribati system, a beverage Container
Deposit
system is under development, where specified bottles and aluminium drink
cans
have a 5 cent deposit paid on them at import, which is passed down through
the
commercial system to the consumer - at a fixed level of 5 cents. The
consumer
then returns the empty beverage container to a collection point, which
buys it
back at 4 cents per item, with one cent going to help finance the
operation
(we only have 5c pieces, so consumers bring 5 items at a time for 20c). In
this way, these easily recyclable elements are removed from the waste
stream
by use of a simple economic tool. Cardboard is principally recovered from
business (everything is imported in a cardboard box) and the advantage to
the
business is that they get free removal of a bulky part of their waste
stream.
This same system can be used to recover cars and fridges for example,
using a
larger deposit. The required legislation for the Container Deposit system
has
gone through its first reading in Parliament.
Non-recyclable wastes are collected using biodegradable 'Green Bags' and
the
garbage collectors will only pick up Green Bags. Plant matter (branches
and
palm leaves) will not fit into a Green Bag. So organic material stays
close to
the point of origin and since Tarawa is an atoll, and the soil is very
sandy
and poor, the organic material helps to nourish the soil.
All recycled and re-useable materials are collected in the Materials
Recovery
Facility, which, by handling all resources from the waste stream in one
place,
can effectively cut costs by sharing the administrative burdens. The
population of Tarawa is about 35,000, so the volume of waste is small; the
land area, being an atoll, is also very small, so population densities are
in
fact quite high.
To do all this effectively a public education and awareness program is run
alongside the physical waste recycling and collection systems. Slogans
have
been developed that have gained very wide currency: 'Kiribati Te Boboto'
(roughly: 'Make Kiribati Beautiful') which is printed on all the Green
Bags,
and also the side of the rubbish trucks; and the recycling system is
called
'Kaoki Mange!' ('Return the Rubbish!') as all the recyclables are
exported.
The bottom line is that wastes must be seen as resources and not problems.
Seeing wastes as resources also will drive economic and regulatory tools
to
prevent 'difficult' wastes from even getting into the waste stream in the
first place; for example in Kiribati, there have been problems in the past
with broken glass from beer bottles, now beer in glass bottles has a very
high
import duty, resulting in very little consumption of beer in glass
bottles.
Bridget Hogg from The Bahamas (Caribbean) suggests a brown bag or canister
approach: I was a university student in Jamaica in the 80's. During this
time,
items such as rice and flour were sold in plain brown paper bags. It would
seem that the materials were imported in bulk containers and then retailed
in
the simple brown bag. Since we don't actually benefit from the pretty
non-biodegradable plastic bags, we should seriously consider an
alternative.
The brown bags had some faults in that they tore easily and did not
prevent
pests from entering the food. We could however consider a 'canister sale'
approach. Consumers could opt to purchase their goods as before, or get a
price discount if they brought their own standard re-usable canister.
(Standard empty canisters would initially have to be issued by retailers).
Bulk imports could then be distributed in this way. To save on manpower
issues, a pre-calibrated machine could be set up to issue 0.5, 1 and 2 kg
amounts automatically (possibly a sensor could 'read' the canister size
via
bar code).
It's time for us in the small islands to realise that our land is in short
supply and unless we eventually want to live in a dump, we have to take a
more
serious approach to solid waste management. Individually our purchasing
power
is small but as a group we DO have a voice.
Title: Wastes are resources, not problems
Author: B. Hogg, A. Leney
Date: Wednesday, 21 July 2004
>
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C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
A few thoughts on community tourism. It doesn't have to mean the Andamanese--it
could be the descendants of freedom fighters, the Moplars, Karens, and
innumerable other interesting communities on the Andamans.
Community tourism is clearly unsuitable for virtually all of the Andamanese. But
I wouldn't rule out some of the Great Andamanese youngsters, who have received
an adequate education in Port Blair. It could in fact be wonderful for them to
participate as guides, to sites such as kitchen middens and other places of
cultural significance to the Great Andamanese, so that they get to learn and to
take pride in their heritage.
A somewhat unrelated thought is that I would like to see the ASI get involved in
a vigorous public education campaign, going to schools, colleges, villages, etc.
and giving lectures on the Andamanese, their customs and history. The
intitiative should come from the anthropologists themselves, without waiting for
a push from the administration.
Madhusree
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Friends:
I agree with the sentiments, ideas, and reactions expressed about the term
"Primitive tribes". It is a left over category from Victorian Western world-view
that has no real circulation in todays world-view. However I must point out that
recently the tribal group like Jarwa have been thought of as "Heritage people"
and that too has problems. How about calling the tribal population of Andaman
and Nicobar- particularly known as "primitive tribes" to be regarded and
referenced as "FIRST PEOPLE" I think it gives them the right focus, respect and
attention they deserve particularly in context of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Hoping for the right transformation in situation and attitude about Andamans!
msarin <msarin@...> wrote:
The term 'Primitive Tribal Group' is an official category for which special
schemes are designed and funding provided (many states have lists of the
tribes classified as 'PTGs' by their govts). It is therefore more than a
casual use of offensive language. To get that changed, a campaign will need
to be launched to get the govt to 'officially' abandon the term. That in
turn requires building consensus on an alternative term for replacing
'PTGs'. Given the extreme vulnerability of some communities within the
larger canvas of adivasi /indigenous people, I expect it is useful to
distinguish them from the rest even for framing policies/programmes.
Madhu
----- Original Message -----
From: sanjoy hazarika <sanhaza@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Tribal Sub-Plans, PTGs
On a specific point, one finds the phrase "Primitive
Tribes", taken to refer to certain "tribal" groups,
most offensive and smacking of a colonial mindset. I
am not here referring to the use of the phrase in this
egroup and this discussion but the general continuing
use of it in government and other language and
discourse. Surely in this day and age, we can develop
a different phrase for these underprivileged groups.
The phrase occurs several times in the Draft National
Policy on Tribals, which should also be considered by
this group. Some of us from the North East had
critiqued and opposed large sections of this draft as
unrepresentative, unjust, insensitive and downright
offensive.
Sanjoy Hazarika
Vishvajit Pandya <pandyav@...> wrote: > Dear
Friends:
> I know for sure that Nicobarese at large do not fall
> under the organization of AAJVS- only the "Primitive
> Tribes" . What is under AAJVS functioning in Nicobar
> is just the Shompens.
>
>
> Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> There have been two very relevant and pertinent
> queries (Manju and Gopa) on
> the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the
> islands and the
> allocations of the money within the Tribal
> sub-plans.
>
> I am myself not particularly conversant with the
> details of this and would
> like to request someone who knows more to help out
> with understanding this.
>
> Are the figures of the money correct? Do the
> Nicobaris also get included
> under this category which is called 'primitive
> tribes? If not then the
> number of people we are talking about is only about
> 1000, and the
> calculations made by Gopa below end up being even
> more conservative that
> what the real picture will be.
>
> Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more
> familiar with the structure
> and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub
> plans in the islands help
> out with this?
> pankaj
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
>
>
> > Pankaj,
> >
> > As you know I am new to this group and have two
> questions on this report:
> >
> > - Of the estimated tribal population of about
> 30,000, the numbers of
> members
> > in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are
> sub-1000. Which is the
> > dominant tribe?
> > - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people
> doesn't quite sound right.
> > That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per
> individual over a five year
> > period - what possibly could this be spent for?
> >
> > Warm regards
> > Gopakumar
> > 080 - 2528 4011
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> > To: andamanicobar@...
> > Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
> >
> > From
> > The Andaman Express
> > July 7, 2004
> >
> > Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> > Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore
> has been earmarked for the
> > tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component
> for the 10th five year
> plan
> > in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of
> the UT outlay for the
> > 10th plan period, an official release said here.
> >
> > According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has
> been utilised by various
> > departments under Tribal sub plan during the year
> 2003-2004. Under the
> > Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the
> proportion of teh
> Scheduled
> > tribe population in this territory.
> > The A&N Administration through its 18 departments
> besides the Andaman Adim
> > Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various
> plan programmes for the
> > welfare and development of the schedule tribe
> population of 29, 249. They
> > constitute 8.27% of the total population of
> 3,56,152.
> > There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen
> forests are abode to
> many
> > primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census
> of 2001, the Onge
> > population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and
> the Sentinelese, though
> > sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be
> 100 in numbers.
> >
> > AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous
> organisation. It is fully
> funded
> > by the government. It is responsible for the
> protection of Primitive
> tribes
> > of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been
> spent by the AAJVS for
> > the various measures connected with the wellbeing
> of the five primitive
> > tribes during 2003-2004, the official
> communication said.
> > C/o Kalpavriksh
> > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> > 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> > Pune 411004
> > Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> > Fax: 25654239
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
> > Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release
> Date: 7/12/2004
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the
> Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
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---------------------------------
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To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Sanjoy,
I was referred to your article on the Draft National Policy for Tribals
by my brother in Kolkata. Where can one get a copy of the policy and
your piece on it?
Sita Venkateswar
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 20, 2004
Ferrargunj Check-Post shifted; forest patrolling intensified
Port Blair, July 19.
The Ferrargunj Check-Post has been shifted to a vintage location along
ATR at the beginning of the Reserved Forest boundary. The newly established
Check-Post totally by eco-friendly material shall remain open round the
clock for checking of all kind of vehicles.
This arrangement is aiming towards curbing of all kind of forest and
wildlife related material trafficking 24 hours in a day besides ensuring
total protection to the Jarawa Tribal Reserve.
The General Public of affected area and the vehicle operators have been
requested to co-operate with the Department, the Conservator of Forest,
Southern Circle said in a press release.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
The term 'Primitive Tribal Group' is an official category for which special
schemes are designed and funding provided (many states have lists of the
tribes classified as 'PTGs' by their govts). It is therefore more than a
casual use of offensive language. To get that changed, a campaign will need
to be launched to get the govt to 'officially' abandon the term. That in
turn requires building consensus on an alternative term for replacing
'PTGs'. Given the extreme vulnerability of some communities within the
larger canvas of adivasi /indigenous people, I expect it is useful to
distinguish them from the rest even for framing policies/programmes.
Madhu
----- Original Message -----
From: sanjoy hazarika <sanhaza@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] Tribal Sub-Plans, PTGs
On a specific point, one finds the phrase "Primitive
Tribes", taken to refer to certain "tribal" groups,
most offensive and smacking of a colonial mindset. I
am not here referring to the use of the phrase in this
egroup and this discussion but the general continuing
use of it in government and other language and
discourse. Surely in this day and age, we can develop
a different phrase for these underprivileged groups.
The phrase occurs several times in the Draft National
Policy on Tribals, which should also be considered by
this group. Some of us from the North East had
critiqued and opposed large sections of this draft as
unrepresentative, unjust, insensitive and downright
offensive.
Sanjoy Hazarika
Vishvajit Pandya <pandyav@...> wrote: > Dear
Friends:
> I know for sure that Nicobarese at large do not fall
> under the organization of AAJVS- only the "Primitive
> Tribes" . What is under AAJVS functioning in Nicobar
> is just the Shompens.
>
>
> Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> There have been two very relevant and pertinent
> queries (Manju and Gopa) on
> the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the
> islands and the
> allocations of the money within the Tribal
> sub-plans.
>
> I am myself not particularly conversant with the
> details of this and would
> like to request someone who knows more to help out
> with understanding this.
>
> Are the figures of the money correct? Do the
> Nicobaris also get included
> under this category which is called 'primitive
> tribes? If not then the
> number of people we are talking about is only about
> 1000, and the
> calculations made by Gopa below end up being even
> more conservative that
> what the real picture will be.
>
> Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more
> familiar with the structure
> and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub
> plans in the islands help
> out with this?
> pankaj
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
>
>
> > Pankaj,
> >
> > As you know I am new to this group and have two
> questions on this report:
> >
> > - Of the estimated tribal population of about
> 30,000, the numbers of
> members
> > in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are
> sub-1000. Which is the
> > dominant tribe?
> > - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people
> doesn't quite sound right.
> > That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per
> individual over a five year
> > period - what possibly could this be spent for?
> >
> > Warm regards
> > Gopakumar
> > 080 - 2528 4011
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> > To: andamanicobar@...
> > Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
> >
> > From
> > The Andaman Express
> > July 7, 2004
> >
> > Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> > Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore
> has been earmarked for the
> > tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component
> for the 10th five year
> plan
> > in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of
> the UT outlay for the
> > 10th plan period, an official release said here.
> >
> > According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has
> been utilised by various
> > departments under Tribal sub plan during the year
> 2003-2004. Under the
> > Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the
> proportion of teh
> Scheduled
> > tribe population in this territory.
> > The A&N Administration through its 18 departments
> besides the Andaman Adim
> > Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various
> plan programmes for the
> > welfare and development of the schedule tribe
> population of 29, 249. They
> > constitute 8.27% of the total population of
> 3,56,152.
> > There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen
> forests are abode to
> many
> > primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census
> of 2001, the Onge
> > population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and
> the Sentinelese, though
> > sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be
> 100 in numbers.
> >
> > AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous
> organisation. It is fully
> funded
> > by the government. It is responsible for the
> protection of Primitive
> tribes
> > of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been
> spent by the AAJVS for
> > the various measures connected with the wellbeing
> of the five primitive
> > tribes during 2003-2004, the official
> communication said.
> > C/o Kalpavriksh
> > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> > 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> > Pune 411004
> > Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> > Fax: 25654239
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
> > Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release
> Date: 7/12/2004
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the
> Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!
Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself
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Yahoo! Groups Links
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 18
No increase in IFS Officers: Admn. clarifies
Port Blair, July 17.
The Department of Environment and Forests has clarified that there has
not been any increase in the number of IFS officers in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. Therefore news reports appearing in a section of the Press about
increase in forest officers and decrease in forests cover is factually
incorrect. Contrary to the reports, the number of IFS officers in this
territory had remained same.
The strength of Indian Forest Service Officers was fixed at 23 for
Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the Govt. of India, Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and Pensions, DoPT vide Notification No.
16016/4/95-AIS(II)-A dated 26.10.1995. This continues to be the same till
date. During the cadre review in 2002, the cadre was restructured
maintaining a ratio of 50:50 between DCFs and other senior officers, as it
has been done in the case of Indian Police Service, where a ratio of 50:50
is being maintained between the Superintendent of Police and other senior
officers in accordance with the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay
Commission. The restructured cadre has been notified vide Govt. of India
Ministry of' Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, D0PT Notification
No. 16016/3/2002-AIS(II)(A) dated 17.04.2002. With this restructuring, two
posts of DCF have been abolished and one post of Additional PCCF (Wildlife &
Biodiversity) and one post of CCF have been added maintaining the number of
officers the same, said an official release here.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 19, 2004
Lt governor visits Narcondum Island
Port Blair, July 18
Lt. Governor visited Narcondum Island, which has a Police Outpost since
1968, established for keeping vigilance against poachers. This island is one
of the two volcanic islands, the other being Barren Island.
Narcondum with an area of 6.812 sq. kms. consists of a single mountain
standing in the middle of the sea. It is well known for Narcondum Hornbill
(Rhyticeros Narcondami), which is an endemic species of the Island. The bird
is known for making its nest in dried up trees. In order to protect the
environment of the island, all the goats, which were in the Island have been
removed.
The Police personnel are posted in the island for a period of 3 months
at a time. Lt. Governor discussed the experiences of the Policemen on duty
and appreciated their activities, an official release said here today.
According to this, the Lt. Governor was accompanied by the Chief
Secretary, Principal Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests
and Supdt. of Police, Andamans. He also made an aerial survey of Interview
Island. This island having 133 sq. mtrs has no habitation. There are
35(estimated) feral elephants in the island. These elephants have been left
in the island after the logging operations in North Andaman were closed in
1962. The vegetation canopy of the island is lush green and dense. No
signs of environmental damages were seen during the aerial survey, the
release added.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 18, 2004
Lt. Governor inaugurates eco-huts at Mount Harriet
Port Blair, July 17.
The Lt. Governor, Prof. Ram Kapse at a simple function inaugurated
eco-huts at Mt. Harriet National Park here this afternoon. He also planted
sapling to mark the 55th Vanamahotsava celebration, which is being observed
during this month.
The Chief Secretary, Shri V.V. Bhatt and PCCF, Shri S.R. Mehta were among
other Senior Officers of A&N Administration, present on the occasion.
Mount Harriet, the flagship eco-tourism capital occupies prominent
location on the eco-tourism map of the A&N Islands. Being in close vicinity
to the Port Blair town, the National Park provides the captivating
opportunity for the eco-tourists to enjoy and appreciate the profile and
ecology of the Tropical Evergreen Forests, landscaped on the rolling down
topography bordering the transparent blue green waters of the Andaman Sea.
The Forest Rest House at the Mount Harriet National Park has been serving
the cause of eco-tourists visiting the National Park since 1984.
Acknowledging the increase in the flow of the eco-tourists to the Mount
Harriet National Park over the years and with the idea to facilitate the
eco-tourists to undertake closer study and research, the concepts of
eco-huts of indigenous materials was conceptualized.
The eco-huts have been designed to fit to the landscape and closer to the
nature. The planning has been made on the lines of the Jungles Lodges being
operated to promote the eco-tourism in the Protected Areas of other states
in the country. The Chief construction material used is of the Bambusa
schizostachyoides.
The ecohuts are expected to promote effective utilization and
development of the various eco tourism products available in the National
Park such as Bird Watching,Nature Photography,Trekking,Nature
Appreciation,Cultural Tourism,Ecological Studies and Documentation etc.,
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
On a specific point, one finds the phrase "Primitive
Tribes", taken to refer to certain "tribal" groups,
most offensive and smacking of a colonial mindset. I
am not here referring to the use of the phrase in this
egroup and this discussion but the general continuing
use of it in government and other language and
discourse. Surely in this day and age, we can develop
a different phrase for these underprivileged groups.
The phrase occurs several times in the Draft National
Policy on Tribals, which should also be considered by
this group. Some of us from the North East had
critiqued and opposed large sections of this draft as
unrepresentative, unjust, insensitive and downright
offensive.
Sanjoy Hazarika
Vishvajit Pandya <pandyav@...> wrote: > Dear
Friends:
> I know for sure that Nicobarese at large do not fall
> under the organization of AAJVS- only the "Primitive
> Tribes" . What is under AAJVS functioning in Nicobar
> is just the Shompens.
>
>
> Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> There have been two very relevant and pertinent
> queries (Manju and Gopa) on
> the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the
> islands and the
> allocations of the money within the Tribal
> sub-plans.
>
> I am myself not particularly conversant with the
> details of this and would
> like to request someone who knows more to help out
> with understanding this.
>
> Are the figures of the money correct? Do the
> Nicobaris also get included
> under this category which is called 'primitive
> tribes? If not then the
> number of people we are talking about is only about
> 1000, and the
> calculations made by Gopa below end up being even
> more conservative that
> what the real picture will be.
>
> Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more
> familiar with the structure
> and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub
> plans in the islands help
> out with this?
> pankaj
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
>
>
> > Pankaj,
> >
> > As you know I am new to this group and have two
> questions on this report:
> >
> > - Of the estimated tribal population of about
> 30,000, the numbers of
> members
> > in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are
> sub-1000. Which is the
> > dominant tribe?
> > - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people
> doesn't quite sound right.
> > That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per
> individual over a five year
> > period - what possibly could this be spent for?
> >
> > Warm regards
> > Gopakumar
> > 080 - 2528 4011
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> > To: andamanicobar@...
> > Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for
> Tribal Sub-Plans
> >
> > From
> > The Andaman Express
> > July 7, 2004
> >
> > Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> > Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore
> has been earmarked for the
> > tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component
> for the 10th five year
> plan
> > in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of
> the UT outlay for the
> > 10th plan period, an official release said here.
> >
> > According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has
> been utilised by various
> > departments under Tribal sub plan during the year
> 2003-2004. Under the
> > Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the
> proportion of teh
> Scheduled
> > tribe population in this territory.
> > The A&N Administration through its 18 departments
> besides the Andaman Adim
> > Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various
> plan programmes for the
> > welfare and development of the schedule tribe
> population of 29, 249. They
> > constitute 8.27% of the total population of
> 3,56,152.
> > There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen
> forests are abode to
> many
> > primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census
> of 2001, the Onge
> > population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and
> the Sentinelese, though
> > sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be
> 100 in numbers.
> >
> > AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous
> organisation. It is fully
> funded
> > by the government. It is responsible for the
> protection of Primitive
> tribes
> > of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been
> spent by the AAJVS for
> > the various measures connected with the wellbeing
> of the five primitive
> > tribes during 2003-2004, the official
> communication said.
> > C/o Kalpavriksh
> > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> > 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> > Pune 411004
> > Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> > Fax: 25654239
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
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> Date: 7/12/2004
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> >
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> > Yahoo! Groups Links
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> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
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___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!
Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself
http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Hi
Andaman & Nicobar is the area of great attraction these
days.Ecotourism is promoted by the administration.To increase the
employment, government is doing a number of things.But l would like
to know that is there anything worth going on in the field of
Agriculture?These days we are hearing about High value
agriculture,what is that?And in this field how much the Andaman
people achieved and in what sense?
Is this new approach going to increase the productivity and can it
reduce the requirement of land?
What are the other activities going in Andaman to increase the living
standards?
Ritu Chauhan
Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
Dear Friends,
There have been two very relevant and pertinent queries (Manju and Gopa) on the
issue of the number of tribal individuals in the islands and the allocations of
the money within the Tribal sub-plans.
I am myself not particularly conversant with the details of this and would like
to request someone who knows more to help out with understanding this.
Are the figures of the money correct? Do the Nicobaris also get included under
this category which is called 'primitive tribes? If not then the number of
people we are talking about is only about 1000, and the calculations made by
Gopa below end up being even more conservative that what the real picture will
be.
Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more familiar with the structure and
the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub plans in the islands help out with
this?
pankaj
Hi Pankaj, the Nicobarese are not one of the primitive tribes, but the rest five
tribal communities; Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, Sentinelese, and Shompen
are. You are right, total population of 'primitive tribal groups' of the A&N
Islands would probably be less than 1000. However, the 'tribal sub-plans' are
not for the 'primitive tribes' only, but for all the 'scheduled tribes' of the
islands including the Nicobarese. AAJVS is an 'autonomous' organization, they
dont have much to do with the 'tribal sub-plans'; different departments of the
Andaman and Nicobar Administration are supposed to keep 'tribal sub-plan'
components in their various plan projects. I know this much as an outsider,
somebody in the Administration can probably tell us more precisely about the
actual projects and fund allocated for each of those projects under tribal
sub-plans.
Kanchan
---------------------------------
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Friends:
I know for sure that Nicobarese at large do not fall under the organization of
AAJVS- only the "Primitive Tribes" . What is under AAJVS functioning in Nicobar
is just the Shompens.
Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
Dear Friends,
There have been two very relevant and pertinent queries (Manju and Gopa) on
the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the islands and the
allocations of the money within the Tribal sub-plans.
I am myself not particularly conversant with the details of this and would
like to request someone who knows more to help out with understanding this.
Are the figures of the money correct? Do the Nicobaris also get included
under this category which is called 'primitive tribes? If not then the
number of people we are talking about is only about 1000, and the
calculations made by Gopa below end up being even more conservative that
what the real picture will be.
Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more familiar with the structure
and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub plans in the islands help
out with this?
pankaj
----- Original Message -----
From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
> Pankaj,
>
> As you know I am new to this group and have two questions on this report:
>
> - Of the estimated tribal population of about 30,000, the numbers of
members
> in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are sub-1000. Which is the
> dominant tribe?
> - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people doesn't quite sound right.
> That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per individual over a five year
> period - what possibly could this be spent for?
>
> Warm regards
> Gopakumar
> 080 - 2528 4011
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> To: andamanicobar@...
> Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
>
> From
> The Andaman Express
> July 7, 2004
>
> Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore has been earmarked for the
> tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component for the 10th five year
plan
> in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of the UT outlay for the
> 10th plan period, an official release said here.
>
> According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has been utilised by various
> departments under Tribal sub plan during the year 2003-2004. Under the
> Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the proportion of teh
Scheduled
> tribe population in this territory.
> The A&N Administration through its 18 departments besides the Andaman Adim
> Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various plan programmes for the
> welfare and development of the schedule tribe population of 29, 249. They
> constitute 8.27% of the total population of 3,56,152.
> There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen forests are abode to
many
> primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census of 2001, the Onge
> population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and the Sentinelese, though
> sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be 100 in numbers.
>
> AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous organisation. It is fully
funded
> by the government. It is responsible for the protection of Primitive
tribes
> of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been spent by the AAJVS for
> the various measures connected with the wellbeing of the five primitive
> tribes during 2003-2004, the official communication said.
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> Pune 411004
> Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> Fax: 25654239
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release Date: 7/12/2004
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
---------------------------------
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To visit your group on the web, go to:
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sometime back, someone calculated the total budget for ITDP in Attapadi,
Kerala under Tribal Sub-Plan for certain paeriod and came out with the
figure that Rs.1 lakh per tribal was spent!!! If one adds up all the money
allocated to the tribals spent in the tribal sub-plan all these years, not
only in A&N but in all other places, one would reach this kind of figure.
There are two issues at stake:
1. Without the "protective" component not in place and working, the
"development" component becomes viciously anti-tribal in its content and
intent. The constitutional framework interestingly recognises this frame
of protection preceding development. That is why, the Centre and the
States including UTs are particularly clear that the protective component
whether it be contained in the Forest Act [see the present forest eviction
issue that has snuffed out hundreds of lives of tribals by the repressive
measures of the state], protective legislations regarding land, Article
244 [and of course the much talked about PESA 1996] etc are stubbornly
resisted/violated actively, with the Courts in fact colluding in this [the
Godavarman Case an exemplary example in this regard].
Interestingly, this group too has also largely skirted/avoided a serious
look into the legal frame regarding A&N [the ANPATR 1956].... limiting to
the Supreme Court orders alone in the cases. Debate on this has to be the
basis for looking into the future of both the Jarawas as well as the A&N
ecology....policies and plans are the most deceptive...it is the laws and
mechanisms set up to operationalise the laws that are vital....and of
course, the structures within which they operate...
2. Tribal development under Tribal Sub-Plan therefore becomes focussed on
"tribal areas" and NOT tribals, opening up tribal areas with
infrastructure for the 'non-tribal' and 'tribal development' becomes a
milch cow for the contractor-mafia-politician-trader lobby. The government
machinery in this context becomes criminalised [the forest department and
tribal department] - machinery of the criminal lobby, which in the earlier
days was crudely and blatantly criminal in disposition but nowadays become
sophisticated talking the right kind of environment, human rights and
sustainable development language.
3. Tribal Department in most state governments acts more as a post office
[i had the opportunity to be part of the review of Tribal Department of
Tamilnadu as part of the exercise to work out the X Five Year Plan for the
state]. Requisitions from all other departments [such as education, forest
dfepartment, public works, Health Dept. etc yoiu name it] would be made,
added up and compiled to calculate the budget under TSP. The Tribal
Department recieves the sanction and the department routes most of the
funds to other departments. So if you get hold of the plan document [must
have been prepared before end of 2001], it would show the break up as to
which hole the funds are to go into.
bijoy
> Dear Friends,
> There have been two very relevant and pertinent queries (Manju and Gopa)
> on
> the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the islands and the
> allocations of the money within the Tribal sub-plans.
>
> I am myself not particularly conversant with the details of this and would
> like to request someone who knows more to help out with understanding
> this.
>
> Are the figures of the money correct? Do the Nicobaris also get included
> under this category which is called 'primitive tribes? If not then the
> number of people we are talking about is only about 1000, and the
> calculations made by Gopa below end up being even more conservative that
> what the real picture will be.
>
> Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more familiar with the structure
> and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub plans in the islands help
> out with this?
> pankaj
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
> Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
>
>
>> Pankaj,
>>
>> As you know I am new to this group and have two questions on this
>> report:
>>
>> - Of the estimated tribal population of about 30,000, the numbers of
> members
>> in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are sub-1000. Which is the
>> dominant tribe?
>> - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people doesn't quite sound
>> right.
>> That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per individual over a five year
>> period - what possibly could this be spent for?
>>
>> Warm regards
>> Gopakumar
>> 080 - 2528 4011
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
>> To: andamanicobar@...
>> Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
>>
>> From
>> The Andaman Express
>> July 7, 2004
>>
>> Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
>> Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore has been earmarked for
>> the
>> tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component for the 10th five year
> plan
>> in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of the UT outlay for the
>> 10th plan period, an official release said here.
>>
>> According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has been utilised by
>> various
>> departments under Tribal sub plan during the year 2003-2004. Under the
>> Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the proportion of teh
> Scheduled
>> tribe population in this territory.
>> The A&N Administration through its 18 departments besides the Andaman
>> Adim
>> Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various plan programmes for
>> the
>> welfare and development of the schedule tribe population of 29, 249.
>> They
>> constitute 8.27% of the total population of 3,56,152.
>> There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen forests are abode to
> many
>> primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census of 2001, the Onge
>> population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and the Sentinelese, though
>> sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be 100 in numbers.
>>
>> AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous organisation. It is fully
> funded
>> by the government. It is responsible for the protection of Primitive
> tribes
>> of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been spent by the AAJVS
>> for
>> the various measures connected with the wellbeing of the five primitive
>> tribes during 2003-2004, the official communication said.
>> C/o Kalpavriksh
>> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
>> 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
>> Pune 411004
>> Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
>> Fax: 25654239
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
>> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>> Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release Date: 7/12/2004
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
Dear Friends,
There have been two very relevant and pertinent queries (Manju and Gopa) on
the issue of the number of tribal individuals in the islands and the
allocations of the money within the Tribal sub-plans.
I am myself not particularly conversant with the details of this and would
like to request someone who knows more to help out with understanding this.
Are the figures of the money correct? Do the Nicobaris also get included
under this category which is called 'primitive tribes? If not then the
number of people we are talking about is only about 1000, and the
calculations made by Gopa below end up being even more conservative that
what the real picture will be.
Can Samir, Vishvajit, Sita or anyone else more familiar with the structure
and the functioning of the AAJVS and tribal sub plans in the islands help
out with this?
pankaj
----- Original Message -----
From: GopaKumar <Gopakumar@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:32 PM
Subject: RE: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
> Pankaj,
>
> As you know I am new to this group and have two questions on this report:
>
> - Of the estimated tribal population of about 30,000, the numbers of
members
> in the 5 tribes listed in this news report are sub-1000. Which is the
> dominant tribe?
> - 365 crores for 'development' of 30,000 people doesn't quite sound right.
> That works out to about Rs. 1.20 lakhs per individual over a five year
> period - what possibly could this be spent for?
>
> Warm regards
> Gopakumar
> 080 - 2528 4011
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pankaj [mailto:pankaj@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:08 PM
> To: andamanicobar@...
> Subject: [andamanicobar] Enhanced outlay for Tribal Sub-Plans
>
> From
> The Andaman Express
> July 7, 2004
>
> Enhanced outlay for isles tribal sub-plan
> Port Blair, July 06: An outlay of Rs. 365 crore has been earmarked for the
> tribal development as Tribal Sub-Plan component for the 10th five year
plan
> in this island territory. The represents 14.68% of the UT outlay for the
> 10th plan period, an official release said here.
>
> According to this, an amount of Rs. 60 crore has been utilised by various
> departments under Tribal sub plan during the year 2003-2004. Under the
> Tribal Sub Plan, funds are allotted based on the proportion of teh
Scheduled
> tribe population in this territory.
> The A&N Administration through its 18 departments besides the Andaman Adim
> Janjati vikas Samiti has been implementing various plan programmes for the
> welfare and development of the schedule tribe population of 29, 249. They
> constitute 8.27% of the total population of 3,56,152.
> There islands with meandering creeks and evergreen forests are abode to
many
> primitive and aborigin tribes. As per the census of 2001, the Onge
> population is 96, Jarawas 240, Shompens 398 and the Sentinelese, though
> sighted only 39 from a distance is estimated to be 100 in numbers.
>
> AAJVS was started in 1976 as an autonomous organisation. It is fully
funded
> by the government. It is responsible for the protection of Primitive
tribes
> of a&N Islands. An amount of Rs. 60 lakhs has been spent by the AAJVS for
> the various measures connected with the wellbeing of the five primitive
> tribes during 2003-2004, the official communication said.
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> 908 Deccan Gymkhana,
> Pune 411004
> Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
> Fax: 25654239
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release Date: 7/12/2004
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
LG inaugurates Pilot Plant for safe disposal of waste
Staff Reporter:
Port Blair, July 13.
A Plasma Pyrolysis Pilot Plant set up by the Department of Science and
Technology at Brookshabad was inaugurated today by the Lt. Governor, Prof.
Ram Kapse.
The state of the art unit will be put to use for safe disposal of plastic
and bio-medical waste generated in the town.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Lt. Governor said that with
the increase in population and change in our living style the use of
disposable items in our day-to-day life have increased manifold. Plastic
which are non-bio-degradable not only affects the environment but also to
the very beauty of the town. It is in this regard, the setting of the plant
by both the Science and Technology Department and the Port Blair Municipal
Council is a welcome step, the Lt. Governor added.
Prof. Kapse informed that in Kolkata the employees of the West Bengal
Pollution Control Board undertake door to door collection of Plastic
materials for recycling of the same to the Indian Plastic Federation. There
is need to think of the same procedure of collecting separately the plastic
materials in every household of these islands, the Lt. Governor pointed.
Prof. Kapse once again appealed to the islanders to minimize the use of
plastic and urged them to use carry bags made of Jute and cloths. He also
urged the islanders to maintain separate containers for keeping
bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes.
The Lt. Governor said that the Administration is making all effort to
keep the Port Blair city clean and unpolluted. He asked one and all to
contribute their mite in keeping the island clean and green.
Earlier, the Lt. Governor invited the plaque marking the inauguration of
the plant. He was also briefed about the functioning of the plant.
Informing about the project, the Project Leader, Institute of Plasma
research, Gandhi Nagar, Dr. K.S. Ganesh Prasad said that the Plasma
Pyrolysis technology is an environment friendly technology which converts
organic wastes into commercially useful by products. The intense heat
generated by the plasma enables it to dispose all types of waste including
municipal solid waste, bio-medical waste and hazardous waste in a safe and
reliable manner, he said that the technology has been indigenously developed
at the Facilitation Centre for Industrial Plasma Technologies, Institute for
Plasma Research, Gandhinagar.
Welcoming the chief guest and others present on the occasion, the
Director, Science and Technology, Dr. V. Krishnamoorty said that the Plant
is part of the demostration project funded by the Deptt. of S&T, Govt. of
India. The equipment is provided by the Institute of Plasma Research and the
man power by PBMC for which funds are with the S&T Council to cover a period
of 18 months, the Director added.
The function concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by the Chairman,
Municipal Council, Shri G. Paramasivam.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 10, 2004
Pearl Aquaculture Begins In Isles Conducive Environment
Staff Reporter, Port Blair, July 9.
The process of bringing A&N Islands into the World Pearl Map has
begun with a private organization Pearle-Scent Maritech Pvt. Ltd.,
successfully undertaking an ambitious programme of Pearl Oysters Surgery and
selective breeding of P. Margaritifera. As part of this, a demonstration on
Pearl Aquaculture was given by Dr. Ajay K. Sonkar in his Laboratory at North
Bay here this afternoon in the presence of Lt. Governor, Prof. Ram Kapse,
the First Lady Smt. Smita Kapse, Chief Secretary, Shri V.V. Bhatt, senior
Officers of A&N Administration and media persons.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt. Governor said that pearls are the
most precious product of the nature and since time immemorial pearls have
fascinated the people of our country. He said India has been one of the main
sources of pearls and pearls particularly from the south are renowned for
their beauty. As most of the oysters beds are gone, people depend mostly on
cultured ones for fulfilling their love for pearls.
Lauding Dr. Sonkar for successfully hatching the locally available
oysters and growing them in laboratory, the Lt. Governor said that the pearl
culture is ideally suited for the islands as it is environment-friendly and
promises good returns and above all can generate employment in a big way. He
said Dr. Sonkar had demonstrated the viability of the project in the
islands. The result of his experiment is very encouraging and it also shows
that the conditions here are favourable for breeding of pearl oysters, the
LG said. Prof. Kapse also assured all possible help from the Administration
for the success of the project in the islands.
The first locally produced golden colour pearl was also presented to
the Lt. Governor by Dr. Sonkar on the occasion.
Earlier, Shri Sheshadri Chavi, Noted Journalist from mainland welcomed
the chief guest and those present on the occasion. He said pearl culture is
done in the most eco-friendly manner as it requires no fertilizers, drugs,
chemicals or antibiotics.
Dr. Ajay K. Sonkar proposed the vote of thanks on the occasion.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
Dear Raj,
"Regarding visits to the tribal communities & being in the wrong forum, I
must bring to your notice that tourism is all about visiting destinations be
it natural or tribal or rural or urban. Are we in a position to decide the
movement of tourists to any area?Can we really stop the tourists from
visiting A & N?I believe we can atleast force the administration formulates
policies through which the benefits of tourism reach the local communities
living in the area."
Tourism to certain areas can and should be restricted if it harms that area
in a manner that is not desirable. Yes, what is harmful and not desirable
are subjective and that can be a subject matter of a separate discussion.
But a decision of what that is has to be made. Have we, the traditionally
non-residents of these islands, caused major harm to the tribals, ecology
and environment. Yes. I trust there is no dispute on that. Then we should
practice self restraint, and if that means saying no to visiting certain
places as tourists, so be it. By trying to ensure that the benefits of
tourism reach the local communities are we not, in a different manner,
trying to integrate them into our ways of living. Let's wait for the local
communities to make the first move to integrating themselves. Yes, we must
ensure that the administration formulates policies that take into account
every aspect of the lives and ways of the local communities.
"Regarding educating my tourists, it is we who are the tourists and it takes
generations to create a responsible tourist. It has to be contributed by the
parents, followed by the teachers and then by the travel trade to actually
to develop a responsible tourist community. Just formulating dos & donts
would be of no help."
Raj, who will first educate the parents and the teachers. And how. Are
children accompanying elders also not tourists and the most impressionable.
The travel trade probably has the fastest impact of imparted information to
the tourist. Request you to reconsider formulating the do's and don'ts.
I would welcome a seminar / workshop provided the issues to be discussed are
decided.
Samir
Dear Sumant,
There are quite some major points that you have pointed out and as I have
explained in the previous mail that only if all of you agree, we will organize
this seminar cum workshop.
Community Tourism that we practice is very simple, tourism by the local
communities, who do it for their sustainable living and in the process preserve
their local nature & culture, tourism which is not dominated or dictated by
people outside the community.
Regarding visits to the tribal communities & being in the wrong forum, I must
bring to your notice that tourism is all about visiting destinations be it
natural or tribal or rural or urban. Are we in a position to decide the movement
of tourists to any area?Can we really stop the tourists from visiting A & N?I
believe we can atleast force the administration formulates policies through
which the benefits of tourism reach the local communities living in the area.
It has been the quality of human beings to change for the better (which is a
very relative term) and from living in caves, we have changed to live in
concrete jungles and I am sure you are no exception. Sumant, I do not know where
you stay, but your views reflect that you are from some urban area. You also
nurture your thoughts and build your dreams for better living. Better living
differs from human to human, but through ages sustainable means of living
without changing the surrounding God gifted inputs is better living is what I
believe.If people did not long for better living, we wouldn’t have given away
with our traditional Sati system.If for you better living means the world of
idiot box or concrete jungles, I cannot help. For me better living is quitting
the bad superstitions, education for everyone, right to balanced nutrition and
basic medical facilities etc. Do you have any idea to how many tribals in India
suffer from malnutrition and due to their lack of education how they are being
thrown away from their homes in the name conservation? Can you imagine that when
you are busy with your computer, cricket or career, there is a large population
of the tribal community who are striving for survival?
I have not been to Phuket and cannot afford to. If I could, I would have visited
to find where things went wrong and confirmed you that we would not repeat the
mistake. It is unfortunate that after spending 40 years with the rural people of
East & Northeast India, including the tribal people, I have only been able to
initiate community tourism in some villages of the region where some of the
people atleast have developed a pride for where they live and what they do. As
you say that the tribals do not need us but today I am proud of the NGOs from
the urban areas are fighting for the rights of the tribals and have managed to
save their land and home in the protected areas.
Regarding educating my tourists, it is we who are the tourists and it takes
generations to create a responsible tourist. It has to be contributed by the
parents, followed by the teachers and then by the travel trade to actually to
develop a responsible tourist community. Just formulating dos & donts would be
of no help.
Regards,
Raj Basu
www.actnowornever.org
Dear Mr Basu,
There are a few points you have brought up. Firstly, community
tourism. I wonder what that means. I hope it doesn't mean visits to
the tribals communities. If so this is the wrong forum to say so. You
might get a lot of flak. Secondly, I wonder what you mean by "we
cannot deny their right to a better living and say that they should
stay as they are". What IS better living? They seem to be happy the
way they are. In fact we have no right to ask them to change to our
life style. If someone thinks that our world of the idiot box,
concrete jungles constitutes "better living" I don't know what to
say. Consider this, these people have been living here for maybe
60,000 years and they haven't caused an iota of damage to the
environment. We, the so called 'civilised' humans, in 200 years have
destroyed a large part. Whose land is it anyway? Who are we to come
here and dictate. By all means, visit, enjoy nature swim in the water
etc. etc. and then LEAVE. Please look at Phuket, you might think they
are a tourism success story, but very few people know the enormous
ecological and social costs they have paid and are paying. It is
politicians who are killing this place. I think everyone agrees that
it is inevitable that these tribals will join the main stream
sometime in the future. The fact is that past attempts
at "civilising" them have reduced there numbers drastically (between
4000 and 8000 to just around 450). Therefore it is only fair that we
give them the choice as to when and how they want to join us. The way
the world is going, God forbid we may have to join them!! In the
meanwhile I suggest no, request earnestly, that you educate your
tourists about environmental protection and and formulate a list of
dos and donts for them. I have seen tourists here who dump garbage on
the beach while admiring the crystal clear water.
The tribals don't need us, "maybe it is we who need them".
Sumant
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Mr Basu,
There are a few points you have brought up. Firstly, community
tourism. I wonder what that means. I hope it doesn't mean visits to
the tribals communities. If so this is the wrong forum to say so. You
might get a lot of flak. Secondly, I wonder what you mean by "we
cannot deny their right to a better living and say that they should
stay as they are". What IS better living? They seem to be happy the
way they are. In fact we have no right to ask them to change to our
life style. If someone thinks that our world of the idiot box,
concrete jungles constitutes "better living" I don't know what to
say. Consider this, these people have been living here for maybe
60,000 years and they haven't caused an iota of damage to the
environment. We, the so called 'civilised' humans, in 200 years have
destroyed a large part. Whose land is it anyway? Who are we to come
here and dictate. By all means, visit, enjoy nature swim in the water
etc. etc. and then LEAVE. Please look at Phuket, you might think they
are a tourism success story, but very few people know the enormous
ecological and social costs they have paid and are paying. It is
politicians who are killing this place. I think everyone agrees that
it is inevitable that these tribals will join the main stream
sometime in the future. The fact is that past attempts
at "civilising" them have reduced there numbers drastically (between
4000 and 8000 to just around 450). Therefore it is only fair that we
give them the choice as to when and how they want to join us. The way
the world is going, God forbid we may have to join them!! In the
meanwhile I suggest no, request earnestly, that you educate your
tourists about environmental protection and and formulate a list of
dos and donts for them. I have seen tourists here who dump garbage on
the beach while admiring the crystal clear water.
The tribals don't need us, "maybe it is we who need them".
Sumant
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