(English) India: The Sentinelese must be left alone

2 Commentaires

1. 

   Chris Lang

   28/11/2018 à 7:47

   An excellent article by Madhusree Mukarjee on the Sentinelese:

   The American Killed by Asian Islanders Hoped to Save Their Souls. But the self-styled missionary failed to comprehend that isolation ensures the Sentinel Islander’s survival
   By Madhusree Mukarjee, Scientific American, 26 November 2018
   On November 17, 2018, when 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau landed on North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in the hope of rescuing the natives from “the clutches of Satan,” they predictably slew him. The last tribe living in voluntary isolation in Asia, the Sentinelese kill almost everyone who lands on their shores. The strategy ensures distance from outsiders, protecting them from the diseases and social decay that have felled other tribes of the Andaman archipelago. Now, the attempts to retrieve Chau’s body — in violation of his express wishes — threatens to unleash a cascade of events that would endanger the survival of this island’s exceedingly vulnerable people.
2. 

   Chris Lang

   28/11/2018 à 7:56

   ‘Pls call off efforts to retrieve body of John Allen Chau from North Sentinel Island: Joint Statement’

   26 November 2018
   1900 hrs

   To All concerned…

   Subject: Joint Statement

   We, the undersigned note with concern and distress the continued efforts of the A&N administration to retrieve the body of John Allen Chau from the island of North Sentinel.

   The media has reported nervous stand-offs between the teams seeking to land on North Sentinel to get the body and members of the Sentinelese community who clearly find these incursions unwelcome. Continuing with the efforts could well lead to further violence and completely unwarranted loss of life.

   The rights and the desires of the Sentinelese need to be respected and nothing is to be achieved by escalating the conflict and tension, and worse, to creating a situation where more harm is caused.

   We are not aware of the pressures under which the Government of India and the A&N admninistration is pursuing the efforts for the retrieval of the body, but would urge the authorities concerned to immediately call off these efforts.

   Sd/-
   – Pankaj Sekhsaria
   Member, Kalpavriksh and author, ‘Islands in Flux – the Andaman and Nicobar Story (Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com)
   – Vishvajit Pandya
   Anthropologist and Author
   – Manish Chandi
   Senior Researcher, Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team
   – Zubair Ahmed
   Editor, Light of Andamans, Port Blair
   – Denis Giles
   Editor, Andaman Chronicle, Port Blair
   – Madhusree Mukerjee
   Researcher, Activist and Author
   – Sita Venkateshwar
   Anthropologist and Author