THE HISTORY AND ORIGINS OF THE JARAWA TRIBES
Jarawa tribes are the indigenous tribes of the Andaman Islands. These tribes were discovered in the time of British colonization, as these groups did not have any connections with the external world. “By the 1930s, they were asked to follow British customs and were given threats to the encroachment of the land, etc., and they refused to accept this offer and continued to enjoy their autonomous lives by doing the activities they enjoy, such as hunting and gatherings in the forest while maintaining their heritage and not causing any harm to the environment”.[1] There was a huge impact of world war, and even after that, these tribes were still of the view that they should be isolated to protect their culture. In this way, they were protecting their heritage because the British used to hunt them by using dogs, and they started killing the Jarawa, so to protect their tribe, they started to stay isolated. So, in 1974, a contract was made by the Andaman and Nicobar administrations, and this was accepted by them. From then on, they were not enemies with them, so they started gifting them with fruits, etc.
CULTURAL PRACTICES AND TRADITIONS OF THE JARAWA TRIBES
The main practice followed by Jarawas is hunting, and for this, they used the bow and arrow instead of any other method, unlike other tribes. The arrow was made of iron. Men used to go hunting, and they used bows and arrows, whereas women also hunted, but they used other means such as baskets or nets to catch fish, etc. These tribes used to collect honey, and fruits from the forest, and they even made huts for their living with the help of the things they collected, such as branches, stems, etc.[2] Jarawa members used to make artefacts using different materials, and they were made by both genders. These people used to create designs on their faces and bodies with the help of clay, soil, etc., and earlier they did not wear any clothes. Recently, they started wearing clothes. As it is believed that men are the Kartha of the family in these tribal groups, men also used to make hunting items such as bows, arrows, etc., whereas women used to make nets, baskets, etc[3]. Jarawas believe that there is no god, and they used to speak their traditional language, they followed a ritual that they used to leave the dead bodies of the dead people under the tree unless they turned into skeletons. They use this while going hunting, as they believe this brings luck to hunters.[4]
CHALLENGES FACED BY THE JARAWA TRIBES IN THE MODERN WORLD
The Jarawa started coming out of the forest in 1998 without their hunting equipment to visit the nearby places, and in 1990, the authorities were trying hard to shift them into the village by having a master plan of what they should wear, do, etc., but there was a campaign conducted by survival and Indian organizations, and due to this campaign, their master plan was broken, and by 2004, they came to the conclusion that let these tribes decide what they wanted. The Jarawas started to come out because there was a road that brought the outsiders into their place, so they started getting affected by many diseases and not having any immunity. Later on, there were efforts to bring them into the mainstream, and they started giving food, clothes, etc., to these tribes, some of the Jarawas men said in an interview that the tourists, poachers, etc. abused the women by forcing them to do many things, even making them dance naked for food. Since 1999, there have been efforts to close the Andaman Trunk Road because they believe that only these tribal people can decide whether they want outsiders to visit them or not. In 2002, the Supreme Court ordered the closure of this road, but it remains open. In 2013, the court closed the road and banned the entry of outsiders, but the administration changed the rules, and the court had no other option other than cancelling the ban.[5] After the incident of harassing women for food, there have been stricter regulations saying that tourists or outsiders can visit them, but they should not talk with these people and should not give any food because it’s clear from the video that the women were harassed; they did the things said by tourists to get the food. After this incident, the court issued an order stating that they had to create a buffer zone for the protection of these tribes by closing the limestone cave and mud volcano, which were the main tourist spots. Even after the order, the administration did not close, and the Andaman administration made the latest version of the buffer zone by stating that these two main spots shall remain open for human safaris to take place.[6]
LEGAL PROTECTIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
Many statutes protect the tribal group; they are the Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation 2012, SC, and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. As per Section 7 of the Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation 2012, any person uploading or publishing videos and photos of these tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Island will be punished with imprisonment up to three years[7], and as per Section 3 (1)(r) of the SC and ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, it says any person other than a scheduled caste or tribe intentionally insults or intimidates intending to humiliate a member of the SC or a ST in any place within public view shall be punished with imprisonment, which shall not be less than six months and may extend to one year.[8] “An advisory note dated October 16, 2017, stated that any person who enters the area without permission to take videos and photos of tribes shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to three years, and a fine, which may extend to Rs. 10,000/-”. Also, an autonomous body named The Andaman Aadim Janjati Vikas Samithi (AAJVS) was created, and its main aim is to protect the interests of Jarawa and instruct the administration to protect all the tribals in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[9]
CONCLUSION
The Jarawa should be free to decide whether they want tourists to enter their territory. They should be given the right to livelihood, engage with the outside world (if they want to), live with dignity etc. By giving them these rights, they will also feel that they are considered as one among us rather than treating them as a tribal group. Nobody should destroy their culture and heritage because they have been following this for an exceptionally long time, and they should not be moved from their native. If anybody does not follow the rules implemented by the administration for the protection of Jarawas, they should ensure that the punishment is given, and nobody repeats it. It is the right of every individual to safeguard and protect the rights of the person living on earth.
Author(s) Name: Varsha Shankar (Saveetha School of Law, Chennai)
Reference(s):
[1] ‘Jarawa Resistance to the British in the 20th Century’(Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, April 18 2023 to April 18 2024)<https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?16239> accessed 08 July 2024
[2]District Administration, ‘People and Culture’ (South Andaman District) <https://southandaman.nic.in/people_culture/> accessed 08 July 2024
[3] Mohamed Umer Shariff et al., ‘Material culture of the ethnic aboriginal Jarawa folk in Andaman Islands, India’(2018) 65 Springer Link <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10722-018-0620-y> accesses 08 July 2024
[4] Ivy panda, ‘TheJarawapeopleandTheirCulture’(IvyPanda,28May) <https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-jarawa-people-and-their-culture/> accessed 08 July 2024
[5] ‘THE JARAWA’ (Survival International) <https://survivalinternational.org/tribes/jarawa> accessed 08 July 2024
[6] ‘Victory for ‘human safari’ campaign as court bans tourists’ (Survival International, 22 January 2013) <https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8941> accessed 09 July 2024
[7] Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation 2012, s7
[8] Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, s 3(1)(r)
[9] Ministry of Tribal Affairs, ‘Protection of Jarawa Tribes’ (PIB Delhi, 02 January 2018) <https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1515002> accessed 09 July 2024
