WHITE CHILDREN BORN IN JARAWA TRIBE

Non-Negrito Children Born in Jarawas

 

The Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bishnu Pada Ray has said that he had the list of three non-Negrito children ''born'' in a Jarawa family.

''As refugee settlements were established in the nearby Jarawa areas, they now keep connection with the villagers. They sell crab, deer meat in exchange of food items like rice, masala (spices), oil etc,'' the MP informed UNI a couple of days ago, to the quaking astonishment of all those concerned.

Allegations were leveled in the past that the Jawara women were being exploited by the non-tribal population, living or working near the Jarawa Reserve area. The MP said that he had already highlighted this issue in the Parliament on 28 April, 2010.

''Their connection with the villagers is increasing. In a Jarawa house, non-Negrito children have born. As a proof, the names of the three children are with me,'' he added. Mr. Ray requested the government to look into the problems of the Jarawas and increase the staff strength, appointed for the protection of the aboriginal Jarawa Tribes. He also urged the government to appoint employees on regular basis with proper salary.

The Jarawa tribals of the Andaman Islands chose to resist contact with all outsiders until 1998. However, they have been under serious threat of going extinct, of late, due to regular contact with the outside world.

Meanwhile, talking to UNI, a local environmental activist, Samir Acharya said that this was not the first such incident that has come in limelight. ''If the MP's statement is true, then it is surprising that the non-Negrito children are still alive. Earlier, people belonging to the Jarawa tribe never used to tolerate mix-up in their community. There were cases when they had killed non-Negrito children after they were born,'' the Secretary of SANE (Society of Andaman and Nicobar Ecology) told UNI.

Appalling, to say the least…!!! Well, what gamut of convolutions are the authorities waiting for before deciding to act potently and judiciously, if they really mean to do so, at all, to secure the fate of the Jarawas, who are nearing extinction, in many and various ways…?

News courtesy: http://www.netindia123.com

Facebook | Shrinath Vashishtha

Facebook Shrinath Vashishtha: "Bishnu Pada Ray of BJP wins in Andamans...But, defeating Kuldeep Rai Sharma of INC, who contested for the very first time, only by a margin of 2989 votes... Hummm... Deep introspection is the need of the hour... What say, friends?"
I'd talk to you in details about the whole exercise in a couple of days, dear friends! Ciao for now...

ECOLOGY OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR AT STAKE...

Oh, what an incomparable respite from the tremendously scorching heat & unbearably sultry weather that the Islanders of this “Floating Paradise on Earth” had been suffering from for over almost two months, now!

For, at last, after a long wait and yearning, it has rained today for about one & a half hours this afternoon, for the first time properly in this season in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The bionetwork has veered off to a ghastly great extent ever since the appalling Tsunami struck the Islands of peace on 26^th December, 2004.

The archipelago that used to receive torrential rainfall almost round the year, a pleasant feature of the Islands that I have personally been witness to, being a local Islander myself, are now left to experience measly rainfall for not more than six to seven months in a year, except for an annual tryst with some transient cyclones.

It’s not merely due to Tsunami or the ever burgeoning danger of Global Warming, for that matter, that the eco-system of these Islands has been transforming itself so rapidly, but also very many man-made episodes of mistakes and thoughtless actions on the part of the Administration and the political leadership as well, which are to blame.

The flawed and indifferent policies of the Administration which is headed by the Central Government bureaucrats in the positions of the Lt. Governor, the Chief Secretary and a mammoth assortment of other Secretaries and Commissioners of various departments and agencies is reflected in the present scenario of these historic coral islands.

The ever-increasing traffic, both vehicular and human is one of a dozen causes of the sorry state of affairs in this crucial Union Territory of India. Although the growth of incoming population from the mainland India with a view of settling down into these fragile coral based islands which had reached an alarming rate during the last decade of the previous century has been somewhat curbed, it still continues to haunt the local residents of these Islands as there have been umpteen number of incidents wherein an incredibly large number of people coming here as labourers have succeeded in grabbing the “Local Certificates” by greasing the palms of the concerned officials of the Administration and have been availing themselves unduly of the benefits thereof.

With the advent of the automobile giants like Maruti and the Hyundai car dealerships in addition to the existing Mahindra & Mahindra, TATA Motors, Ashok Leylands and Hindustan Motors among others, the narrow roads are impounded by automobiles of all sorts. Maruti, Hyundai, Scorpio, Chevrolet, Toyota, Ford, TATA Indica, Sumo, Safari, and a host of other happening motor brands are seen wheeling on the roads of Port Blair and many of the small far-flung islands also.

All these and many others including the merciless and callously unremitting blasting of the delicate hills for obtaining metal chips out of the rocks for the purpose of unplanned constructions all around under the pretext of the implementation of one or the other developmental policy, leaves the irate, long-suffering residents of this virtuous land of the martyrs of the Indian Freedom Movement, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, with the Hobson’s choice – to vote their long-standing Member of Parliament, whom they had always looked forward to with devoted faith for solutions & justice, Mr. Manoranjan Bhakta out of the Parliament and out of any future reckoning, in a bid to end the agonizing saga of unthankful breach of trust of his own people.

The balding hill beside the Corbyn’s Cove beach at Port Blair

Well, for, now, my dear friends, after having spoken my heart out a bit with you all, allow me the luxury of getting drenched in the first showers of the season, something which I’ve loved doing all through my entire life in the Andamans. Catch you later… ciao for now… take care!