2005 - Indian Social Institute

Tsunamis: 1,400 island tribals died (6)
New Delhi, Jan. 14: The government on Friday said that the total of 1,400 tribals have lost their lives in the
tsunami devastation which struck the Indian coastal towns and Andaman and Nicobar Islands on
December 26 last year. "The aborigines of A&N Islands are however, safe. Though some tribes, including
the Nicobaris, Sentinelese and Shompen, had been hit by the deadly
tsunami waves, all primi tive tribes, including Ongei, Sentinel and Jarwa in the Andaman and Nico bar
Islands, are safe. There is no question of extinction of any tribe," the Union tribal affairs minister P.R.
Kyndiah said. Addressing a press con ference here after coming back from A&N Islands, Mr Kyndiah said,
"The natural instinct of the local tribes also helped them find safe shelter just before the tsunami waves
struck." The Nicobaris tribe were the worst hit with 26,156 of the total population of 42,068 taking shelter in
camps, the minister said, adding in Andaman, out of a total of three lakh, 37,264 were now living in
camps. "We have now fine-tuned and streamlined the entire relief operations in the Islands," he said
adding the main concern of the central government and local administration was to rehabilitate the
affected people before the onset of monsoon which usually starts at the end of April. Mr Kyndiah said a
total of 1,400 tribals had lost their lives while about 5,000 were still missing, of whom 4,354 were from
Katchal Island alone. (Asian Age 15.1.05)
Tribal teachers face humiliation (6)
Bhubaneswar, January 25: THOUGH A number of teaching posts reserved for the ST community lie vacant
in Orissa due to lack of suitable candidates, the few who are selected by the gov ernment face hostile
recep tions in schools, especially in the coastal districts. The culprit: caste discrimina tion. When two tribal
teachers joined a school in Jagatsinghpur district recently, they were asked by locals to write their names
correctly on the blackboard as proof of their professional competence. The teachers — Kalandi Padhan
and Purna Chandra Padhan — refused to do so after which they were warned not to set foot on the
Odisho Balipatna Primary School again. Orissa's school and mass education minister Nagen-dra Pradhan
told HT: "The government has taken a se rious view of the incident. I have ordered the district in spector of
schools to direct the headmistress of the con cerned school to accept the joining reports of the two
teachers". The teachers have told the district inspector of schools that they were as saulted, harassed and
were forced to sit on the floor af ter running into trouble with one Mrutyunjay Das, who claims to be the
presi dent of a local parent-teacher association. (Hindustan Times 26.1.05)
Wedlock does not change caste: Court (6)
New Delhi, Jan. 30: Recognition of a forward caste woman to be one among the Scheduled Caste or
Sched uled Tribe community on the basis of her marriage cannot entitle her to contest an electipn from a
con stituency reserved for SC or ST, the Supreme Court has ruled. A bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti,
Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan said "to permit a non-tribal under the cover of a
marriage to contest such a seat would tend to defeat the very object of such a reservation." This ruling
was given by the bench while upholding an Andhra Pradesh high court order setting aside the election of
Sobha Hymavathi Devi to the Assembly from a reserved constituency in the state. (Asian Age 31.1.05)
PM’s securitymen frisk tribal woman (6)
New Delhi: A controversy is brew ing over male security personnel al legedly frisking a tribal woman who
had gone to meet PM Manmohan Singh at his residence, 7 Race Course Road, as part of a delegation.
Though the Special Protection Group (SPG) has denied the incident, the tribal welfare director at the Centre
said he has got a complaint and was looking into the matter.
Karikka, 34, a member of the primitive Chola Naikan tribal com munity which numbers about 280 and lives
in caves in Kerala’s rain forests, went to the Prime Minister’s house on January 27, with her hus band
Mathan, to meet Singh. They were taken by the tribal wel fare ministry with other tribals from all over the
country to meet the PM on the occasion of the Republic Day celebrations.
Mathan was cleared by the securi ty persons. But when Karikka’s turn came, she was checked by the male
security persons, said a tribal wel fare officer of the Integrated Tribal Welfare Project who accompanied the
tribals. The securitymen found a piece of arecanut and tobacco, which the trib als chew, from Karikka. The
securitymen then sent mes sages around and Karikka was not given permission to go with her hus band to
meet the PM. (Times of India 31.1.05)
FEBRUARY 2005