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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rethink on Jarawa isolation by Basant Kumar Mohanty

Rethink on Jarawa isolation by Basant Kumar Mohanty

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published Published on Jan 30, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 30, 2012

A government panel has suggested the Centre revise its “no intervention” policy on the Jarawas of the Andamans and try to “empower” them rather than let them continue to be what an academic has described as “showpiece hunter-gatherers”.

The panel wants the government to see if it can provide food and medical help —and possibly some education and housing — to these tribals inside the Jarawa Reserve without disrupting their lifestyle.

It has asked the government to first appoint a taskforce of anthropologists, sociologists, nutrition experts and doctors for a socio-cultural and health study of the Jarawas, and then decide its new policy on the basis of their recommendations.

No food or medicine is now provided inside the Jarawa Reserve in a conscious decision to avoid interfering in the community’s way of life. The tribals can, if they so wish, come to the reserve’s edges and receive them from the government but rarely do so.

The panel, headed by the secretary of the tribal affairs ministry, Arvind Kumar Chug, handed in its report last month.

Tribal affairs minister V.K.C. Deo confirmed that the Centre planned to revise its eight-year-old Jarawa policy “in the next six months to one year” for the tribals’ “protection and development”. He was non-committal on how far the Chug panel’s suggestions might be followed.

He told The Telegraph there were “three major issues” relating to the Jarawas.

“Their land rights have to be protected. Their sources of livelihood have to be protected. Finally, their exploitation by outsiders has to be checked,” the minister said.

“We may speak to the Jarawas, some of whom have learnt Hindi of late. We will find out what they expect from the government. The idea is that the government’s intervention should not impose a new lifestyle on them.”

In 2004, the Centre had worked out a policy that said there should be “no intervention” in the life of the Jarawas.

The Jarawas now live in their traditional way in their natural habitat but their contact with outsiders has increased, posing a threat to their lifestyle. A few days ago, there were reports about the community being used as a bait to attract tourists, and young Jarawa women being forced to dance half-naked for visitors’ amusement.

The Jarawas’ health and nutrition is another concern for the policy-makers. Studies have shown a high prevalence of the hepatitis B virus in the community.

Experts are divided over the Chug panel’s recommendations.

Manibrata Bhattacharya, an anthropologist and former Calcutta University professor, said he was against government intervention into the Jarawas’ affairs.

“There is a debate whether the Jarawas should get access to all the development that urban people enjoy. I am against the materialistic side of this so-called development,” Bhattacharya said.

“This western concept of development has so far benefited (only) a section of society rather than being inclusive. Should this development paradigm be imposed on those who still live as a family rather than a disintegrated society?”

Bhattacharya added: “My suggestion is that the government should study the mind of the Jarawas. It should protect their sources of livelihood and extend some medical help if required.”

C.D. Singh, vice-chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University at Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, disagreed. “Whatever development has happened to the tribals in this country has come through government intervention,” he said.

“The government has to intervene and provide education, health facilities and other livelihood opportunities. You should not allow them to live like showpiece hunter-gatherers.”


The Telegraph, 30 January, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120130/jsp/frontpage/story_15067944.jsp


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