Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Great Andamanese in Port Blair

Will this be the fate of all the indigenous communities of these islands?

Great Andamanese begging in Premnagar, Port Blair.

Photo by Zubair Ahmed, The Light of Andamans.
Contact: zubairpbl@gmail.com

8 comments:

Ramaswami Ashok Kumar said...

Not only are they a lot with a lot of genius, they are indigeneous! But similar is the fate of the originals of Bangalore and Mysore. And of Mumbai. And of Kerala(The Silent Valley) and so forth.

Parimita Routray said...

The fate of most of the indian citizens will be like that as shown in the photograph very soon, with the gap between the rich and poor getting wider day by day.

It is not the case of the indegenious groups only. All poor people have the same fate.

Parimita Routray, Bhubaneswar

Unknown said...

as indians we should emulate the west for anything progressive they do; not ape it like it is now; look at australia showing the way about the aborigines; atleast a start to a better future for them. we keep talking about 'india rising'; i dont see any judging by this revealing snap.

Anonymous said...

I was looking through google images and came across your blog.

Please do your research before posting pics and giving out any statement. Yes the guy in this picture is a tribe, but he is like any other drunky guy walking dow the road trying to make some bucks for his next drink.

I know the guy personally and I know how he roams around at Marina Park and other tourist destinations, just to seek out money from both locals and tourists.

Many people tried to help him, hell he gets free food and shelter from the government......they have their quaters near Rajniwas, but as I said he is an alcoholic, so please don't frigging blame the whole community of Port Blair because of his addiction.

PANKAJ SEKHSARIA said...

Thanks pb.
There is no comment of any kind made along with the picture. It is just a question being asked about the fate of the indigenous peoples of these islands. Maybe the community itself is responsible, but I hope you are aware of the history of the last 150 years of the continued and continuing marginalisation and exploitation of the tribal communities of the A&N.

Zubair Ahmed said...

Hi
PB is not wrong. The photograph posted is not against anybody. The guy is from a tribe, which is on the verge of extinction. He is an alcoholic now. They were not a century back. It is the result of our approach towards the tribe that has turned them alcoholics and Jarawa too is following the same path. We need to atleast leave them alone.
The guy is fed by the govt. They were hunt gatherers. We turned them to be beggars. Sorry, if the photo has hurt someone in the tribe in particular.

Anonymous said...

I am all for leaving them alone and live their own life on their own terms.

I totally respect [i]sentinel[/i] tribe who hasn't let anybody come near their land.

May be it was my Port Blairian Civic pride which got hurt and I read far too much with that picture. The fact that I have seen this guy and helped him myself with money makes me feel both guilty and sorry for him.

One hardly see beggars in Port Blair (except the ones who come from Andhra with their religious bandwagon).....I would love Port Blair to remain the same, free of clusters.

Ps: Zubair, are you the same one from Junglighat? Above Super Electronics?

PANKAJ SEKHSARIA said...

PB,
Would just like to bring to your attention a very active egroup andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in that is dedicated to various issues of the A&N Islands. It is a very active and diverse group and with some very interesting and important discussions on it all the time. Zubair could fill you in if you like. I moderate the group and it will be nice if you could join in and also ask others you know in the islands to join in. If you would like to become a member please send me an email at psekhsaria@gmail.com