India's independence in 1947 changed nothing for the aboriginals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They continue to be subjugated and fight an unequal war of survival.

Two of the tribal groups - the Great Andamanese and the Onges - had almost been finished when the Government of India assumed control of the archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. The British subjugation and attempts at rehabilitation had exposed the two tribes to diseases which finally consumed majority of their people.

In retrospect, the change of guard made little difference, as both the tribes continue to be in a sorry state. The Great Andamanese now largely live off government alms in Straight Island and their numbers have only just climbed from 16 to 46. The Onges are settled in Little Andaman Island. Its 96 members also survive on government dole.

But the Indian government has probably learnt nothing from the disastrous experiences of the two tribes - the Andamanese and the Onges. Mindlessly, it continues to chase the tribe that the British had failed to win over.

Colonizers in free India

Bakhtawar Singh (L) with the author

Octogenarian Bakhtawar Singh, who retired as deputy superintendent of Andaman and Nicobar Police, says he led the first friendly contact with the Jarawas in 1974 after a government order to "control them, tame them and bring them into mainstream."

He organised many contacts with the Jarawas after being re-employed with the Tribal Welfare Department. "Regular contact programmes, during which many
Jarawas were brought out of their settlements, given food and fruits, and dropped back, slowly reduced their hostility towards us," he says.

Records show that the government's efforts to win over the Jarawas were dictated by the need to control the tribals' violent reaction to its plans of expansion and development of the Island.

Former Andaman and Nicobar Police superintendent Ujjwaleshwar Mishra says, "the 70s saw a spurt in killings and for the first time we had cases where many Public Works Department (PWD) workers and their trucks were targeted. This coincided with the beginning of the construction of the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR).

… The 80s and the 90s saw a massive increase in the attacks … 189 acts of hostilities against the PWD, Forest and Police personnel. This is an extremely high figure compared to the 75 acts during the 50s to the 70s. The construction of the ATR, encroachments and poaching clearly gave causes for the increase of violence on part of the Jarawas."

The situation changed for the administration after the Enmei episode. The Jarawas became largely friendly, giving the government and the settlers leeway to creep on tribal resources. A local anthropologist says, "till the hostilities lasted, the jungles remained mostly out of bounds for the settlers. As hostilities abated, the settlers swarmed in… Since then, the resource density has reduced in the Jarawa areas."

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