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Poachers Sexually Exploit Jarawa Girls under Influence of Alcohol and Ganja
By AC Bureau
Click to listen to what the Jarawa Man has to say ...
Port Blair, Feb 1: For the first time, in a revealing audio clip, a Jarawa man clearly states that local poachers and fishermen from throughout South Andaman have been exploiting them.
These poachers are from Junglighat, Wandoor, Herbertabad and Tirur. They not only visit the Reserve but are also involved in exploiting the girls sexually. They have introduced alcohol and ganja (marijuana) among the Jarawa.
In the audio clip, the Jarawa man says that poachers regularly visits the Reserve and in the influence of alcohol and ganja chase and hurt the girls and sleep with them in the Jarawa Chadda (hut). He also complains that the girls are physically tortured.
In another clip (which will released shortly), the Jarawa man says that the poachers bring rice, sugar, oil, tea powder, tobacco leaves, alcohol and zarda. In exchange they take away crabs, venison, pork, drum and dhoop (resin).
The audio clip reveals the extent of exploitation by the poachers, as the Jarawa man spells out the names of nearly 20 such poachers, who are regulars.
From Tirur area, he names Chotu, Lamba ka Ladka, Bablu, Sujoy, Deva s/o Neelu, Raja alias Tapas (man with moustache), Haran, Natia, Kishore.
From Guptapara area, he names Udu (short statured ‘Nata’), Sameer, Pintu, Nitai.
From Wandoor, Robin, Neen ka Ladka Mandal, Lalu, Ada ka Bhai. He also names a few persons from Junglighat, Port Blair – Thata Rao, his father and other persons in his group.
The Jarawa man also mentions that Thata Rao and his group from Junglighat come for fishing and collect from them crab, pig, deer, resin (dhup), jerricane, drum etc.
"There had been many cases against the poachers for intruding into Jarawa Reserve. However, in most cases, they come out on bail," says an expert in the field.
"Sexual exploitation is also alleged against many poachers, albeit they are not proved by the law as in most cases, the Jarawa girls won't testify against the poachers," he added.
Last month on 16th and 17th two teams of poachers were apprehended by a Joint team of AAJVS, Police and Forest from Jarawa Tribal Reserve in the West Coast and Hiren Tikrey. The poachers had taken about 8 Jarawa girls along with them. One of the team stayed in the Reserve for three days along with the girls. The girls were rescued and brought back and all the poachers were arrested under various sections of ANPATR and SC/ST POA Act.
In another incident, a local poacher Nitai Mondal, resident of Guptapara whose name repeatedly appears in the audio clip, went to Chotagoja Jarawa Camp, a Jarawa Reserve on the West Coast on 3rd November with ration articles - rice, vegetable oil, sugar and tea and camped with a group of Jarawas.
On the next day he took two Jarawas - Dawa and Lekhte to Bambu Nallah, where other Jarawas were camping. He stayed with them for a day and later took 5 Jarawas - Anijamu (43), Illy (25), Anjale (27), Achehane (25), and Tahe (22) to Tarmugli Island. Nitai Mondal, who is a habitual offender, is already booked in two cases of exploitation of Jarawas. But, he too was let off on bail.
Although, the police tried to frame charges of sexual exploitation in the recent abduction cases, it is learnt from very reliable sources that they could not prove it as the Jarawa girls who had accompanied the poachers to Hiren Tikrey and West Coast did not testify against them.
"Most of the Jarawa girls, who are indulging in such acts, are either orphans or widows, and are unaware of the consequences of their compliance with the poachers," a senior anthropologist told Andaman Chronicle.
After shedding their hostility in the year 1997, the Jarawa tribe has become more vulnerable to outside influence and the recent developments inside their home speaks for itself.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO CLIP
The girls say...
The outsider (in’en) boys press them... lots.
They press them using hands and nails, when the girls get angry.
They chase them under the influence of alcohol, the girls...
They do (yoha) sex (pelta) with the girls.
All the girls, (and he names around 10 girls)
Sujoy and Chotu come to the girls
and Bablu and Nitai and another one Kaushik...
they drink alcohol in the house of girls.
They also sleep in Jarawa’s house (Chadda).
They chase the girls after smoking Ganja (Marijuana). smoking Ganja...
All the outside boys... the boys I named earlier.
Sujoy and one Chotu and one Kaushik and one old man from Guptapara, Nitai and one Sameer and I missed one outsider, no two outsiders... There are two more ... That Mamu from Guptapara... there is a boy you know... his name is Mamu... He is known as Mamu... he is also there...
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Port Blair, Jan 31: Indian Navy LCU L 33, the oldest amphibious warship of Andaman and Nicobar Command is tentatively scheduled to be decommissioned in mid April 14. The ship was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1st Dec 1980 at Goa by Rear Admiral Subir Paul, VrC, and has been part of all major operations in this Far Eastern Sea board during her 33 long years of service to the nation.
One of the first few indigenously designed ships, commissioned into the Indian Navy, it was manufactured by Goa Shipyard Limited, Vasco-da-Gama. The ship is the only unit in Andaman and Nicobar Command to receive the Unit Citation from the Chief of Naval Staff in 1999 and CINCAN’s Citation in 2013. The ship also participated in relief operations in Sri Lanka during the Tsunami of 2004, and was commended by then President of Sri Lanka, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, for her role in humanitarian services following the Tsunami disaster. L 33 played a vital role in the rescue of stranded tourist from Neil Island during the recent ‘Cyclone Leher’ during which she battled rough seas and recovered 97 tourists from Neil Island. The ship has also been involved with the training of the marine police at Diglipur, Rangat, Mayabander and Hut Bay.
The ship sailed for the last time on 24th Jan 14 and has traversed a distance of 1,15,500 NM at sea. In her last Operational Cycle, the ship has carried out all tasks set forth by the Command and has been at sea for around 205 days.
The present and last Commanding Officer, Lt Cdr Rajesh Shivadas had this to say about the grand old lady, “After the glorious of 33 years in the service of her nation, IN LCU L 33 is ready to serve the nation in different way.”
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Port Blair, Jan 30: The Andaman and Nicobar Command will be hosting the international naval event, MILAN 2014 in Port Blair from 3rd to 9th February 2014. MILAN 2014 is the ninth edition in the MILAN series of multilateral naval engagements that was started by the Indian Navy in 1995, in consonance with the country’s ‘Look East Policy’ of strengthening friendly ties with the nations in the Bay of Bengal region and South East Asia. Seas are the common bond between these nations and have been used since times immemorial. As a natural outcome of this interaction the cultural ties and friendly relations also blossomed. There is abundant evidence of the strong bonds that have flourished since ancient times between India and these nations through the sea routes. In the 1990s, when India embarked on the ‘Look East Policy’ to revive our ties with neighbouring nations in the East, the Indian Navy became one of the natural contenders to promote this initiative. As a consequence, the Indian Navy conceptualised the MILAN event, with the underlying theme of ‘Friendship Across the Seas’. The central location of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands made them the obvious choice for the Indian Navy to host this event. MILAN is the Hindi word for ‘Tryst’ or ‘Meeting’, and was chosen as the title for this biennial gathering of naval and maritime forces from littoral countries of the region and beyond.
The initial editions of MILAN were conducted by the erstwhile Fortress Commander Andaman and Nicobar or FORTAN, being the senior most naval authority in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The first edition of MILAN saw participation of four neighbouring countries ,i.e. Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, besides India. The next two editions in 1997 and 1999 saw the participation increase to seven countries, with Bangladesh and Malaysia joining in. MILAN was not held in 2001 as the same year saw the Indian Navy hosting the first-ever International Fleet review in Mumbai.
Post Kargil, the growing strategic significance of the Islands led to the creation of India’s first Unified Theatre Command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command at Port Blair in October 2001. The Command has components of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and the Indian Cost Guard placed under a single Commander-in-Chief, instead of the respective service heads. With its motto of ‘Victory Through Jointness’, the integrated character of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, enables it to orchestrate unified responses to challenges from any dimension.
After its raising in October 2001, the Andaman and Nicobar Command assumed the onus of conducting MILAN. The first edition of MILAN under the newly constituted Command was held in 2003, and saw the participation increase to eight countries. Australia and Myanmar were the new inclusions, while Bangladesh was unable to participate in MILAN 2003. MILAN 2005 was initially scheduled in February 2005. However, following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region in December 2004, MILAN 2005 was postponed to 2007. Andaman and Nicobar Command embarked on a massive relief and rehabilitation programme in aid ofthe Islanders. Seeing the rapid progress and the brisk pace of rehabilitation, a bold decision was taken to advance MILAN to January 2006. Considering the massive scale of planning and co-ordination involved in preparation for the mega event, and the several constraints and limited resources within which the arrangements were to be undertaken, the task was an onerous challenge. However, with relentless efforts the event was successfully conducted in January 2006, thus underscoring the swift return to normalcy in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The participation in MILAN 2006 had also increased to eight foreign countries with Bangladesh rejoining the event after her brief absence in 2003. MILAN continued to bloom into a successful forum during the subsequent years. Thirteen countries participated in MILAN 2010 and the participation increased to fourteen countries in 2012.
Over the years, MILAN has burgeoned into an effective forum to address common concerns in the maritime domain as also to help forge co-operative initiatives. The biennial event has now become an eagerly awaited gathering of littoral nations to build friendship, strengthen cultural ties and foster mutual understanding between the participating nations. MILAN 2014 will be the largest ever gathering with the participation of sixteen countries.
Air Marshal PK Roy, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, ADC Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command, along with senior officials of the Command carried out a comprehensive onsite review of the various preparatory arrangements at the Naval Jetty on 29 January 2014. The Naval Jetty will form the centrepiece for several activities of MILAN 2014, and will also berth many of the participating foreign ships. The jetty has been spruced up and presents a festive look in preparation for the international event. Detailed programme for the event will he published in all local newspapers and will be broadcast on Doordarshan, Port Blair. Our fellow Islanders are requested to attend and make the event a mega success.