The recent notification for the national census has left officials in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar seeking answers to three questions: One, how to count the Sentinelese, given the administration’s decision to stay at least 5km away from the North Sentinel island that is their home?
Two, how to count the Shompen of Great Nicobar, who live in near-unreachable corners of the island?
And three, does it even make sense to insist on counting the number of Sentinelese and the Shompen?
This is the first census being conducted after the Andaman and Nicobar administration’s decision, in December 2014, to not go near the island or disturb the Sentinelese.
The 2011 and 2001 census were based on extrapolated numbers after census officials sailed close to the shores of the island. Since 2014, they have not done that, not even to retrieve the bodies of at least four intruders killed by the islanders and buried on the beaches of the island in the last 11 years, according to A&N police officials. That includes an American missionary who tried to illegally reach the island and preach Christianity to the indigenous tribe.
“In December 2014, the administration decided to strictly follow an “eyes-on and hands-off” policy. Until then the UT administration would regularly sail around the island, stay at a distance(where the arrows of the Sentinelese people could not reach them),” said a A&N government official who asked not to be named.
“Currently only the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel keep an eye on the island from a distance to ensure that poachers or intruders do not go near it. We have to see how the census can be conducted,” he added.
According to the 2011 census, the island is home to 15 people, 12 male and 3 female. The 2001 census put the number at 39, 21 male and 18 female. Unlike the union territory’s other tribes such as Jarawas, Shompen, Onges, Nicobarese and Great Andamanese, who have been contacted through the autonomous tribal welfare body, Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS), the Sentinelese prefer their privacy on their 59.67sq km island. They hunt and they fish; little else is known about them.
“We have always respected their privacy. There was an incident of fire reported from the island in 2014, so a government team circumnavigated the island. But since then none have been near the island. There have been talks of using certain technology to map their population but it is not clear if this will give an accurate estimate or whether it is even ethical to conduct such an exercise,” said M Sasikumar, joint director of the Anthropological Society of India, who was part of the team that had circumnavigated the island in 2014.
His reference is likely to speculation that drones could be used to count the Sentinelese, but the fallout of this on a tribal society could be significant (and catastrophic).
Sasikumar said that till 1997, the government attempted friendly missions to the island. “Teams landed on the shores and offered gifts such as coconuts to the islanders. But this too was stopped considering the dangers of infections that could be transmitted to the islanders.”
But it may not even make sense to count the Sentinelese, said an expert.
Protecting the islands
“I think trying to do a census of the Sentinelese is pointless. Even an extrapolation is only an extrapolation. It is much more important to protect the livelihood resources around the island like the reef, the sea resources and the island itself from external interference and incursion. The government has been trying to do that but can do so much better. Local fishermen still exploit marine resources for the export market such as lobsters and commercially important fish,” said Manish Chandi, former member of research advisory board, Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Research and Training Institute.
The Shompen of Great Nicobar pose another challenge. Some populations of the Shompen in Great Nicobar remain uncontacted. “The Shompen living very deep inside the forests on the west coast do not come this side (Campbell Bay). Only the Shompen from Laful (name of area) come to Campbell Bay sometimes for ration etc. They speak in their own dialect but they are approachable on some occasions. You have to trek very far through the forests to reach them and they do not like outsiders,” said Barnabas Manju, chairman of the Little and Great Nicobar Tribal Council. The 2011 census counted 229 Shompen people with 141 male against only 88 females.
Sasikumar highlighted that it is important to track the risks facing the Shompen but admitted that the administration has not been able to reach all groups. “It is a very difficult task to reach the Shompen. The East-West road collapsed after the Tsunami. You may reach 10 km inside but most Shompen groups may be beyond the 27th km. The Shompen are not a homogeneous group. The Shompen groups may fight or avoid each other. We do not know very well how they are doing. If you go by the previous Census data the male-female ratio is very worrying. The number of females is very low.”
There are fears that the Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project could impact the Shompen and the forests they depend on. The Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project has four major components: an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICCT); an international airport; a power plant; and a township. There is also a Trunk Infrastructure Road that will cut through Great Nicobar Island. The total cost is estimated at ₹81,800 crore. The Nicobar Islands fall in the Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot and cover the western half of the Indonesian archipelago.
“Before mapping the population, it may be important to consider why you would do the census? There are policies and welfare schemes for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups but it is important to assess implementation. There is documentation of what the Shompen’s views are on loss of forests and development projects, but what has been done with their views? It is also important to review how much money has been spent on the welfare schemes for them and for what?” said an anthropologist who has worked in the islands, asking not to be named.