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A Tale of Two Tsunamis

Jarawa SojournContinues Unabated

Drinking Water Supply SchemeSippighat Panchayat

Paves the Way

ITF Mired inControversyUNSOLVED PUZZLE

Honeymoon Over,Bishnu Back in BJP

The issue of bringing artistes from mainland has raised many questions - Whywas the proposal dropped, if there was no foul-play? Why no action againstthe perpetrators? How come ANIIDCO was directed to pay for the ITF expense?Why is there no transparent process of hiring artistes?

2 |loa|FEATURES THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

BYBASUDEVDASS

It is a rule of presumption thatin absence of evidence to thecontrary, a person shall be

taken to be dead, when he hasbeen absent seven years and notheard by them who would natu-rally have heard of him. Thusread the Section 108 of IndianEvidence Act 1872 [providedthat when] the question iswhether a man is alive ordead……

3077 persons officially record-ed as missing on 26th December2004 followed by the Tsunamitriggered by the massive earth-quake on the morning of the day,

are liable to be declared as deadwhen questioned or demandedby the kith or kin of thedeceased. They can now proceedwith the activities to seek legalrights to meet their social as wellas materialistic ends.

Seven years have passed onthis day of 26th December 2011.All the 3077 missing persons aredead today. There may be somemore persons who might havebeen washed away unrecordedby the massive tsunami wavesthat rendered more than 50,000people of this Island territoryhomeless. The sea inundating alarge chunk of agricultural landin South Andaman and uproot-

ing the coconut and arecanuttrees in Nicobar group of islandscompletely shattered the liveli-hood of many.

But what about those who nei-ther went missing nor died butlost everything in the catastro-phe and are forced to live asalmost dead since last sevenyears even today! In many of theIslands in Nicobar group, thetsunami waves might even criss-crossed the land mass but surelywent back to sea. But in manypart of non-tribal piece of land,the sea water, riding on thetsunami waves, entered torecord a permanent occupationencroaching upon 1375.30

hectare of paddy and other fieldcrop-raising land and 806.86hectare of plantation crop-rais-ing land.

Many of such victims are stillfighting to survive with dignityand ease while bureaucrats andpoliticians are making their hayduring such sunshine.

Such people obviously arethey or their descendants whoactually had caused a metamor-phosis of these islands from abizarre 'Kalapani' to 'Mini India'.They are neither encroachersnor political leaders or bureau-crats, but, common men; whohave an ache for the Islands andthe Islanders. They still have the

vision to make the Islands a bet-ter place to live in and areendowed with resilience torecreate their own environmentin a superior way then whatexisted before the 'Tsunami' hitthe Islands.

The statement given by thePrime Minister Dr. ManmohanSingh "We shall build a 'NewAndaman'. Man and Nature willco-exist in perfect harmony inthe New Andaman" seems to bea distant dream still today formany tsunami victims in theislands till today. But who arethese 'we'? Are they the people ofthese islands or the politiciansand bureaucrats from NCR?

BYBASUDEVDASS

The Giant Tsunami waves are still in the minds of thepeople of these islands otherwise people have a shortlived memory. When any major event takes place,

there is lot of hue and cry. But, after some time everythingis forgotten. People remember it only when they arereminded. This is the time of the year whenAdministration as well as the media takes a break from itsroutine affairs and remembers the killer Tsunami thatchanged the whole scenario in Andaman and NicobarIslands in the most devastating manner on the blackSunday of 26th December, 2004.

Tsunami the Onge GirlThe waves are reminded but two little Tsunamis are a

forgotten lot today. A female child was born to a youngcouple on 28th December 2004, 48 hours after the strik-ing of Tsunami, at Ramakrishnapur in Little AndamanIsland where the Primitive Tribe - Onges were evacuated.Born to the Onge family with Inakwangeilakubegi aliasRajani the mother and Enatei alias Madan, the father, thegirl child was named Tsunami.

The situation at that moment of time was approving tonone even for the doctor posted there was attempting toattend to his duties under traumatic condition. The ANMShanti Theressa Lakra did not lose her cool and attended

the pre and post delivery stages of the mother and babywhich had a premature delivery due to ordeal and suffer-ing. The baby was nursed to the extent possible by Shantitill she was shifted to GB Pant Hospital, Port Blair. ShantiTheressa Lakra an Auxilliary Nurse-cum-Midwife laterand rightly been awarded Padmashree for her meritori-ous services rendered to PTGs. The baby was possibly berescued and airlifted to Port Blair and alive today solelybecause of timely intervention of Govind Ram a localDANICS officer, Survival of one Soul of the VulnerablePrimitive Tribe was, certainly one of the biggest achieve-ments of the Administration but now who remembers thesurvivor as well as her rescuers?

Tsunami the Boy B

orn on 26th December 2004 on a hill surrounded byforests, amidst screams and shrieks for life by hun-dreds of people in Hut Bay of Little Andaman,

Tsunami Roy is a forgotten child today. A newsmaker formore than a week in National and International print andelectronic media is known to none but his parents onlywho call him by his nick name 'Saagar' (Ocean).

Tsunami's father Lakshmi Narayan Roy is a privatelabour on daily basis while his mother Namita, though ahouse lady has taken up 'cooking' on order against officialfunctions. She has to abandon her activity of cooking midday meal for schools after a couple of years as the school

she has been askedto supply food nowis too far from herrefuge. "None of ouractivity is a regularsource of income"said Namita but.'But God is with usand we will suc-ceed', she added.

Recounting themorning of 26thDecember 2004 shenarrated the har-rowing tale how, inher acute labourpain, she was res-cued from herhouse to the hill byher husband andone of his friendbraving tsunamiwaters, upto their waist and chest level, pushing the float-ing dirt and logs. She recited the suffering she underwentwhile delivering her baby under open air amidst shrieksand screams in the forest. 'No food for 72 hours I could notbreastfeed the baby, instead, soaked my dirty saree in rainwater and moistened the lips of the baby to keep himalive'. She was amongst others who were the first to beevacuated to Port Blair on 30th December. The cause ofthe delay was that the capital was unaware of the extentof devastation the Little Andaman Island faced on themorning of 26th December 2004 due to Tsunami waves.Their entire concentration was in Nicobar group ofIslands, mainly inhabited by tribes, which were almostwashed away by the giant waves of Tsunami.

The indomitable spirited parents are not leaving anystone unturned to survive and give better available edu-cation to Tsunami Roy and his elder brother in LittleAndaman. This is despite the fact that the family did notget any assistance from any corner. Not even a TsunamiShelter out of 1966 permanent Shelters in Little Andamanaccommodating about 6000 persons.

In fact Roys had committed a blunder of not able to bearthe brunt of trauma and fear after the harrowing 72 hourswith their weak baby and malnourished mother.Accepting an offer of opportunity from the administrationthey were also allured to go to mainland to a distant fam-ily. Idea was to recover mentally and physically. And whenthey returned, everything was over. Permanent shelters aswell as other facilities were rendered to only those whostayed in temporary shelters. And Roys are not entitled forany assistance including a roof over their heads.

A Tale of Two Tsunamis

3077 More Persons Died of Tsunami

Padmashree Shanti Theressa Lakra

3 |city|NEWS THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

BYZUBAIRAHMED

Sippighat Panchayat on theperiphery of Port Blair townhas been in news for various

reasons. In 2007, when a majorwater crisis loomed over SouthAndaman and especially PortBlair town, an ambitious waterproject was announced. Thetsunami submerged farmland inSippighat was planned to be con-verted into a sweet water lake.Landowners were notified and acompensation packageannounced. As usual, it also gotentangled in legal intricacies.

In November 2007, LieutenantGovernor after visiting theDhanikhari Dam on the way backstopped at Sippighat village andinteracted with them and madepromises he could never keep. Hepromised the villagers alternateland as well as handsome com-

pensation package. Neither theland was acquired for the freshwater lake nor the affected farm-ers compensated on any grounds.

It is learnt that APWD, theimplementing agency had trans-ferred an amount of Rs15,48,0000 to the RevenueDepartment to acquire the land.However, it ran into legal issues

and the matter is lying somewherehidden from the public eye.

However, the Gram Panchayatcould not lie idle waiting for theAdministration to wake up fromtheir slumber and act on theirbehalf. They instead concentratedon the water supply scheme theyhad been running since ten years.A perennial nallah, known as

An ambitious water project hangs in balance; a water supply initia-tive of the Panchayat is thwarted by vested interests and the insen-sitive administration sleeps tight.

Drinking Water Supply SchemeSippighat PanchayatPaves the Way

BYSTAFFREPORTER

Agroup of Jarawas from Bada Baalumade a foray into revenue villages ofTusonabad Gram Panchayat on 7th

Jan at about noon. These aborginal groupspopularly called as Tirur Jarawas came outof their reserve once again with life, stockand barrel. A group of young Jarawasincluding Alamole came out at Collinpurtaking the Batak Gadda route. Alamole isthe same Jarawa who was brutallyattacked by three local poachers ofFerrargunj some months back deep insidethe Jarawa Tribal Reserve. The Jarawamen were seen moving in a separate groupand women with children in separategroups.

As the Jarawas came well prepared for alonger period of stay near the revenue vil-lages, they were equipped with every con-ceivable provision for sustenance. It makesa pretty sight to see them carry on theirback packs traditional as well as modernobjects bound together in a most practicalmanner with simple twines and threads. Itappears a lot for us mere mortals but theJarawas keep it well stacked in least possi-ble volume so that it can be carried on theirbacks. The most interesting provision was

packing of rice grains in 1 litre completelydry pet bottles arranged in stacks of threebottles each making a cuboid of twelve bot-tles neatly packed in plastic cement bagstightly wound by twines and a carryingcord made out of wild creepers. They werealso equipped with raw materials to makenew baskets at their new abode till they aredropped back deep in their reserve. Theywere also equipped with several unfin-ished bows and arrows and basic toolsmeant for hunting and fishing. Their bas-kets were stuffed with other provisions andornaments. An interesting new additionwas a float made out of thermocol slabs thesize of a table top and tightly capped emptyplastic cans. On enquiry, the Jarawasrevealed to the villagers that these floatsare an innovation meant for floating on thesurface of water in crocodile infestedcreeks and nallahs which fall on their routeto revenue villages. Though they are greatswimmers, in order to ward off crocodilesthese floats come in handy.

The most disturbing part of this visit torevenue villages is carrying of utilities andcommodities which are lapped up by thesettlers in barter. As in our Hindi Filmswhere the police arrive on the scene of the

crime hours after the incident, so do ourJarawa protection force and the staff ofAAJVS on getting the news of Jarawa entryin the revenue villages. These Jarawaswere carrying Crabs, frankincense andhoney in considerable quantity. The settlervillagers were seen luring these aboriginalsin hordes and trying to force the Jarawas tobarter these commodities for tobacco andworn out clothes or pepe- Cash. If theJarawas don't agree on above commoditiesfor barter the offer of Pepe is made which isincreased from one pepe to two pepe andso on. Each pepe can be of rupees tendenomination to maximum rupees hun-dred denomination. Since arrangementsfor their shifting at the fringes of the rev-enue village at Tirur where a temporaryhut is present on a hill the Jarawa groupcontinued on foot with a AAJVS staff intow. Along the way from Collinpur to Tirurpassing the villages of Temple Myo andHerbertabad the entire commodity of needfor the settlers was lapped by duping theseinnocent Jarawas. An interesting new itemfinding favour in barter is deer meat as perlocal villagers. At times if these deal irksthem they would as well enter any shop orhouse and walk away with tobacco or rice

in the quantity they feel right for a merefew grams of crabs or frankincense to a bot-tle of honey. Before reaching the entrypoint of revenue village of Collinpur, theJarawas do pluck some tender coconutsand chew a few sugarcane enroute fromthe plantations on the fringes of theirreserves. When the Administration is busyrevising the Jarawa Policy and thinking onthe lines of empowering the Jarawas, theprocess has already began on the groundwith villagers imbibing fear among themabout their livelihood and the failure of theAdministration in fulfilling their require-ments. The pep talks by the local villagersabout their rights and need for settled lifeand food security has a catch - enticingthem into barter. This recent foray is alsobelieved to be because of the presence ofBurmese poachers at Hiren Tikrey whichmay come out in days ahead as the localpolice are trying to apprehend them basedon local intelligence received by them froma group of merry makers during New Yearexcursion to neighbouring Islands.

While the PAT regulations are beingamended and made stringent, Jarawashave started to shed all inhibitions and fre-quenting the villages and bartering differ-ent forest produce. The nexus is now sowell established that the settlers would notneed to frequent forests, when Jarawasthemselves will come out with the provi-sions required by the settlers.

Jarawa Sojourn Continues Unabated

Dhobi Nallah, which starts fromthe Quarry on the hillock ownedby Surya Rao, makes way throughthe private land of oneMuniswami, who works in theRevenue Dept and culminates inthe well constructed in thePanchayat Office premise byPanchayat Samiti in 2002.

The Panchayat supplies freshwater to about 196 householdsbenefiting more than 800 per-sons. It supplies about 75000 litresa day through pipelines laid andmaintained by the Panchayat. Ithas also made it a revenue sourceby collecting Rs 25 from eachhousehold for the service.

The nallah needs to desilted sothat the water supply is not hin-dered during summer, when theadministration looks east andwest for drinking water.

However, the catch is that theAdministration, which harps ontelling the panchayats to earn rev-enue and do more on the ruralwater supply front, has once againbecome a roadblock for thisscheme.

"The perennial nallah, whichexists geographically and topo-graphically is unfortunately miss-ing on the revenue map," saysVincent, Pradhan, SippighatPanchayat. "If the map does not anallah in it, how can it be desilt-ed?" he asks. Muniswami, whoowns the land through which thenallah traverse, using his connec-tions in revenue department hasbeen creating problems for thePanchayat. He has filed a NC FIRagainst the staff of the Panchayat

for trespassing, when they went todesilt the nallah.

The Nallah has been there sincelong time. However, Revenuedepartment does not recognize itas there exist no nallah in theirrecords. The Panchayat didapproach Raj Niwas, Secretariatand the District Administration fora solution, but has drawn blank. Infact there is a 3 x 3 culvert on theroad constructed by the Britishduring the colonial regime, con-nected to the nallah. The facts arewide open to the eyes to see, butthe revenue department hasturned blind towards it. TheDhobi Nallah was in use since agesby the old inhabitants.

Saraswati Narayan, ex-Pradhantoo vouches that the water supplyscheme is beneficial to a largenumber of villagers. However, shedisagrees with the Pradhan. "Itmight be a personal issue betweenthe Pradhan and Muniswami. Hewas cooperative whe during mytenure I had asked him to surren-der land for laying a hume pipe,"said Sarawati.

"Such initiatives by Panchayatsneed whole hearted support," saidChaman Behari, an old inhabitantand a PRI member who is a disil-lusioned soul. "Even after sevenyears, we are just getting promisesabout compensation money, Ihope we will get it after our death"he said.

The Pradhan informed that theissue has been also taken up withTKS Nair, Advisor to PrimeMinister, who had visited theIslands recently.

4 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

BYSTAFFREPORTER

The Island Tourism Festivalhad a colourful start on 5thJan 2011, inaugurated by Lt

Governor Bhopinder Singh. Theone and a half hour cultural fiestawent global this time with DDBharathi, telecasting it to morethan 40 countries.

Despite plentiful of adversecomplaints and criticism aboutpopular mainland artistes, thecultural extravaganza sailedsmooth with local and various cul-tural organizations from South,East and North Zone puttingtogether a blend of folk dancesdepicting the cultural heritageand diversity of the country.

Lieutenant Governor,Bhopinder Singh, inauguratingthe 16th mega cultural extrava-ganza said that this year, the festi-val is celebrated on a wider scaleextending to Nicobar group too.Praising the local talents, he saidthat they are not less than themainland-based artistes.

On the snail pace of develop-ment in tourism sector, he justi-fied it saying that theAdministration is deliberatelygoing slow taking very cautioussteps not disturbing the ecologicalbalance, aspirations of local popu-lation and the sensibilities of thetribal population. Taking a dig onother states that are expeditiously

creating tourism infrastructure,he said that the Admn is moreconcerned about the impact oftourism on environment.

Referring the aftermath ofCyclone Thane, which had hun-dreds of tourists stranded in dif-ferent destinations, he said that aproposal will be mooted by theAdministration to provide freeboarding and lodging facilities tosuch tourists and requested thelocal population not to harass andexploit them and to extend allhospitality in such eventualities.He also sought the cooperation ofthe local population in keepingthe tourism destinations and theIslands clean and tidy so that the

tourists take a positive and pleas-ant memory with them.

He also announced that apartfrom ITF, food festival, film festi-val and another major CulturalFestival will be organized in 2012.

On the role of tourism for theeconomic development of theIslands, he said that the Islands donot have any major industriesapart from tourism and fisheries.Hence, these sectors shouldemerge as the major employmentproviders.

On connectivity, he said thatconsiderable number of flightshas been plying between the capi-tal and the Islands. He informedthat about 2 lakh tourists visitedthe Islands in 2011 and theadministration is determined tomake these emerald Islands into

ITF Now on AIR FMA

fter capturing the national attention by televising the inaugu-ral function of the Island Tourism Festival in Doordarshan, theannual tourism event of the Andaman & Nicobar Island has

gone live on AIR FM Radio on Sunday the 8th January 2012.The FM Radio called up the Secretary (Tourism) Andaman &

Nicobar Administration, Shri Satish Mathur yesterday morning andin a question- answer session on telephone, the listeners all over thecountry got to know about the unique features of Andaman &Nicobar Islands as a tourist destination.

The Secretary (Tourism) informed the listeners that theAndaman & Nicobar Island is ideally suited for those tourists whowant to see the natural beauty, exotic underwater marine life, trop-ical forests, un-explored beaches some of which are world's best,serene atmosphere, with likes of adventure sports such as ScubaDiving and Snorkeling. Shri Mathur stated that the A&N Islands arethe first to have a runway on the sea and large numbers of touristsare enjoying the thrill of landing on /taking off from the sea. Withthe introduction of seaplane services, the Island has also earned adistinction of the only place in India 'where there is a runway on theSea'.

Regarding the ITF, the Secretary informed that the IslandTourism Festival aims to promote local talents particularly in danceand music. It provides an opportunity for the artists from all over thecountry to showcase their talents and to interact with the people ofthe Islands.

When asked about the facilities for tourists, Shri. Mathurinformed that Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Mini India in truesense- that it is a place where everyone speaks Hindi irrespective ofdiverse linguistic background, and is a unique example of castelesssociety which is crimeless and thus offers most safe and secure placeto the tourists, besides having all the basic facilities like vehicles andaccommodation at affordable rates.

He said that with every passing year, new features are added toITF. For the first time, state tourism corporations are participating inthe festival from Delhi, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.Secretary also mentioned about the proposed performance ofEuphoria rock band of Dr. Palash Sen and the Hasya KaviSammelan.

Island Tourism Festival:Cultural Extravaganza Begins

Stale Stalls Welcome Visitors at ITFI

f you wish to take a canopywalk in the deep forests of theIslands, you will need to wait

another four years. But, ITF pro-vides a shorter version. The stallof Dept of Environment andForests provides a peek into thewild with animated sounds andfeels of the jungle.

However, the tall talk about areal canopy walk will have towait as the required quantity ofthe best quality Padauk is nothappening. The required quanti-ty of padauk is about 350 cubic,whci costs about Rs One and halfcrores in the market. The qualityand the girth required is notreadily available and it is learntthat only about 10 cubic of therequired quantity has been pro-cured by the Contractor.

"Why can't they use KhadiMahuwa, which is good andlong lasting timber, which canwithstand any climate?" asks aForest official. "It would be a day-dream if they insist on using pol-ished padauk for canopy walk,"he said.

It is pertinent that usually,canopy walks have a rusty feeland look and is not as refined aswalking on tiles. "The officers

need to shed their city-mindsetwhile planning canopy walks,"said a Forest Ranger.

Most of the stalls put by vari-ous departments in ITF are half-hearted efforts, which do not saymuch about tourism potential ofthe Islands. It's high time;Administration stops the depart-mental stalls and allows privatetour operators to do propertourism promotion in the stalls.

one of the best tourism destina-tions.

The Lieutenant Governor alsoreleased four films on Islandtourism. He also praised theeffort of Naresh Chandra Lal inpromoting the seaplane servicethrough a documentary.

The cultural events were anenriching experience taking thespectators on a journey throughthe diversity of India, with folkdances by Nicobari, Karen,Ranchi, Bengali artistes and theguest artistes from South Zoneand East Zone.

Doordarshan, Port BlairKendra in close coordination withDirectorate of Art and Cultureand Directorate of Tourismdeserves all praise for the success-ful maiden telecast of the Culturalfestival on the national networkthrough DD Bharati.

Earlier, Satish Mathur,Secretary, Tourism welcomed thegathering and R Murali, DirectorTourism proposed vote of thanks.The programme was comperedwith all splendor by RasheedaIqbal, in her innate style, blendedwith Urdu poetry on the beauty ofthe Islands and its historicalimportance in freedom struggle.

5 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

SpinelessPAUPER’S LOG |ABU ARSH

The Editorial team discus-sion at LOA led to an opin-ion that the Protester bit is

to be carried over a wee bit;delve into reasons that preventour Islands society to face upagainst any atrocity. More oftenthan not the only reaction peo-ple offer is a feeble discontentand a lot of sulking later on.Most of the different forms ofatrocities are short lived in pub-lic memory. Thy neighbour'sproblem is his own and we aswell won't poke our noses intheir affairs. There are issuesgalore and we don't have time toform a public opinion on them.It's obvious that a select fewwho benefit from such policieswouldn't have anything to com-plain. The majorities of us,whose opportunities aresnatched owing to such policies,either don't have any vague ideaabout its consequences or arecallous. From an over charged,substandard commodity andadulterated food items at ourmarkets, non-deliverance ofsmall change back to us in pub-lic transport tariffs or otherservices, non-adherence to citi-zen's charter in govt. institu-tions, demand of bribes inessential services by the govt.employees to big policy deci-sions we seldom raise our voic-es. This gives a wrong messageto our tormenters andexploiters who believe it's theirbirth right to do what theydeem fit. Big promises are madeand broken in no time withregards to people's welfare. Noperson big or small worriesabout the consequences of hismisdeeds, as our Islands is amorally dead people territorywith its inhabitants lacking soulor conscience in the face ofoppression.

The Tunisian fruit seller's self-immolation bid, who laid thefoundation for Arab Spring rev-olution was not about daily tor-menting by authorities abouthis weighing equipment butabout human dignity. There is alimit to tolerance to any sort ofinjustice in a citizen. Ours is asociety with its roots in the colo-nial era. Our parents and greatparents didn't protest as theywere suffering from colonialhangover. Opportunities thenwere aplenty and their rightswere considered as a favourfrom the authorities. The thirdor the fourth generation of theIslanders too have had enoughof gross mismanagement ordetached governance from itspolicy makers, custodian of

laws, service providers and evenour public representatives.Majority of the islanders are insome way or the other connect-ed to the Administration by wayof Govt. jobs. Raising voices forunjust treatment and vaguepolicies would mean troublefrom the tormenters. There areinstances where just move-ments for justice and equalityhave been stalled with utmostof ease by applying pressure tac-tics in the form of serious conse-quences, manipulations or out-right lure. People occupyinghigh pedestal in theAdministration or even oneswith monopoly in the marketcontrol us. Political parties willnever be non-partisan. Their ini-tiation of a protest is based onthe nature of an issue, if it's pop-ulist then there will be a Photofinish fight to the line amongstthem. For them it's an arm twist-ing exercise to control officialsfor personal favours andwaivers at the cost of the public.There is no place to get justiceapart from God, who whendelivers shakes the mighty andstrong.

Our future generation faces aprospect of trying times ahead.Severe resource crunch, no jobsecurity, low standards of living,no representation in decisionmaking, downward spiralingmoral values and loads of frus-tration will be their fate.Stemming this rot has to startright now. We cannot let it allslip away. Why would we not beconsulted for our welfare? Whywouldn't we raise our voiceswhen public exchequer isdrained by way of procuringworthless things and exorbitantexpenditures on facilities forcommon public? Why wouldwe not demand greater trans-parency and accountabilityfrom all concerned? Our islandswhich are geographicallydetached from the seat of powerat New Delhi have to wake upvery soon. We need to makedecisions here and interpret allthe Flagship rudderless pro-grammes of the government asper local conditions. We cannotlet ourselves being taken forgranted this long. Strong non-political forums need to evolvein the Islands taking up issues ofpublic interest. There is nodearth of leaders without fol-lowers in these Islands and weshould be wary of them. Let'swake up to be Kingmakerswho'll chart their own coursefor human dignity and prosperi-ty in our present and tomorrow.

BYZUBAIR AHMED

The Island Tourism Festivalhas a history of controversies.This year too, it was mired in

a series of noise and uproar. Thecontract to bring mainland-basedpopular artistes is the piece ofcake which everyone wants a bitefrom. With an amount of about Rs50 Lakhs spent every year, theprocess of getting the artistes isvery much ambiguous and theIslands always get mediocreartistes. This year, in the inauguralspeech, the Lieutenant Governorsurprised everyone by saying thatthe local artistes are no more infe-rior to their mainland counter-parts - a revelation indeed!

Was this status update achievedin a fortnight? When the decisionto bring artistes through afavoured channel proved precari-ous, there was no other way but topraise the talent of local artistes.

When the Administrationknows that Island TourismFestival is an annual affair and theissue of bollywood-based artistesneeds to be sorted out, why doesthe Administration wait for theeleventh-hour to initiate theprocess? Moreover, every year, allrules for engaging event manage-ment groups are flouted and onlythose who are potentially close tothe Director or a coterie, which isin charge, gets the chance. Sincemany years, no tenders werefloated or bids invited.

From selection of the artistes tochoice of the event managementgroup, vested interests and acoterie plays a major role. Sincelast three years, MarvellousCreations were bringing artistes,that too without any tender. EvenRahul Entertainment, an EventManagement company had beenapproaching the departmentsince 2006. In 2009, with somepolitical recommendation as wellas the mercy of the Director,Rahul Entertainment along withMarvellous Creations broughtartistes. The selection criteriaremained a very close secret.

What happened this year is alsovery intriguing. RahulEntertainment once againattempted this year. But, he waskept in darkness saying that thefile is under process. However, it islearnt from reliable sources thatthe LG's secretariat had finalizedthe proposal of one Mrs RickyBala, of R R Entertainment for anamount of Rs 56 lakhs that includ-ed fireworks too. Rahul entertain-ment had quoted about Rs 20

Lakhs for 1 artiste from LittleChamps with a seven-memberband and a manager plusBharathy and Kapil from ComedyCircus and two other artistes.Whereas, R R Entertainment hadquoted for 4 artistes from LittleChamps without band and twoartistes from Comedy Circus.They had also included the cost offireworks on the inaugural day.

The Director as well as theTourism staff too remained clue-less and had to also run with thedecision imposed from above. In

fact, the decision to route the pay-ment through ANIIDCO also cre-ated a ruckus. How come ANIID-CO came into the picture? TheAdministration is yet to clarify onthat count.

The revenue generating ven-tures of the Islands are beingtransferred to ANIIDCO to keepthe revenue in the Islands itselfwithout going to the central con-solidated fund. It was an easy wayout for the Administration to usethe money lying with ANIIDCO.However, there are no well-defined procedures and explana-tions would complicate things.

The easiest thing to do was tojust cancel the whole process. Themillion-dollar question is - wasthere any kind of misappropria-tion or illegality in the wholeprocess? If yes, why is there noaction? Cancellation is like apolo-gizing. Was this an issue where anapology is enough? Or just cancel-lation is sufficient?

There is a catch in the wholeissue that when local papersexposed the racket, and BharatiyaJanata Party picked up the issue,without much fuss, the adminis-tration cancelled the whole pro-posal, ignoring the fact that RahulEntertainment's quote was stillvalid and far below the rate quot-ed by R R Entertainment. Why theAdministration did totally drop

the issue and did not give a chanceto Rahul Entertainment? Why thepolitical parties which took up theissue totally ignore RahulEntertainment which hadapproached them to take up thisissue? What silenced them whenthe Chief Secretary informedthem that he will speak to SatishMathur? Why didn't they followup when the Director Tourismdenied the report that SatishMathur had assured them that hewill speak to the artistes and bringthem?Speaking to LOA, the

Media Officer of BJP said that theissues will be taken up by theparty soon after the ITF ends.

And, finally, no artistes are com-ing from mainland. TheLieutenant Governor in his inau-gural address also mentioned thatPalash Sen and his band"Euphoria" will be performing on12th Jan 2012. However, fromreliable sources inside the depart-ment, it is learnt that the soundsystem required for the band isnot available in Port Blair andhence, they had asked theAdministration to procure it fromChennai which will cost about Rs12 Lakhs. Moreover, if they usethe local sound system, the showwill remind us about theHariharan farce, where the wholeshow was a flop as he had to limithis performance to just ghazals,whereas, he is a versatile singer, asthere were no proper technicalsupport.

There is a tried and tested sys-tem of engaging performingartistes everywhere. Even inNational Games and other nation-al events, artistes are engaged.Bids are invited from EventManagement Companies to quotefor Grade A, B and C artistes. But,the process needs to be initiatedwell in advance keeping in mindthe speed of file movement in thesystem.

Mainland-based ArtistesUnsolved Puzzle

There is a tried and tested system of engag-ing performing artistes everywhere. Even inNational Games and other national events,artistes are engaged. Bids are invited fromEvent Management Companies to quote forGrade A, B and C artistes. But, the processneeds to be initiated well in advance keep-ing in mind the speed of file movement inthe system.

6 |edit|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

06 January 2012 | Vol 35 Issue 23

Na kuch kehte hi banta hai, Na chup rehte hi banta haiHamara bhee to is mitti se aakhir wastha hai kuch - (Raz Andamani)

Ring in the NewStanding at the threshold of a new year it is customary to take stock

of gains and losses of the year gone by. We would like to take upsuch an exercise. A little more detailed studies would follow not somuch for bringing accusations and mudslinging but to determineour strength and weaknesses so that necessary course correctionsare made to learn from the past and move ahead into the future.

We are in January. A change of guard at the top of the helms isexpected this year. Rumour mills are working overtime predictingauspicious dates as well as names. However, the Island politicianswere never seen as desperate as the Lieutenant Governor to retaintheir position and chair.

On the political front, Bishnu is back in BJP and the short-livedhoneymoon with TMC is over. If BJP had its Jan Chetna Yatra,Congress had its 7th Political Conference. Otherwise, at state level,both the major parties were not seen addressing any policy issues ofthe Islands and rather concentrated more on highlighting civicissues, which its city and local units could have done. Smaller partiesremained in hibernation and shall continue till 2014, when newcombinations and permutations will be formed for the Loksabhapolls.

On our sunrise sectors, all these have to move out of the officialfiles, meetings and seminars to the ground. We have been hearingabout it for much long. Now is the time to watch it delivering thegoods. Tourism definitely needs a separate corporation to manage itkeeping in view that it benefits the Islands in general and promotesemployment opportunities in a large scale.

The department of fisheries and its new found mascot TunaMission needs to be revisited with a pragmatic mindset.

Knee-jerk actions, stereotype plans and programmes, dispiritedofficials have to make way for dynamism that would transform thesedepartments into real workhorses capable of realising the dreams ofan economic resurgence of the islands.

Economic resurgence! Nobody talks about it. Least of all the politi-cians! These islands luxuriate on doles from the centre. It has goneon for much too long. We are sitting on immeasurable marinewealth that beckons exploitation. Agriculture is a virgin area so tosay. Imaginative plans have to be drawn up. People have grown apa-thetic to agriculture. They have to be reassured that agriculture byitself could be a paying proposition; one can lead a luxurious life ona 5-acre plot. Seeing is believing! There is no dearth of such successstories.

There are other developmental issue too, connectivity forinstance. In an island system, water transport occupies the primeposition. It is in shambles; a new vessel has joined the crippled fleet,but not pressed into service. Nicobar district is getting alienatedbecause of a faulty shipping system. Shipping sector is running at acolossal loss. It can't go on. We are yet to hear about the integratedtransport corporation for the Islands.

Criticisms are not meant to denigrate or run down the adminis-tration but to energize it to do better. The media, the fourth estate isas much part of the democratic set up as the other three arms. It alsoworks towards the same end - welfare of the people. It is not alwayspossible for the authorities to feel the pulse of the people throughofficial reports and briefings. Media fills that gap - to give a feel ofthe realities on the ground. Not that the medium itself is alwaysabove board. Sections of the media too might have its own agendaand vested interests. But going through a cross-section, one canremove the grain from the chaff and find the pulse of the people.

The people of the territory are beholden to the Lt. Governor fortheir present welfare and future security. If he fails; the people fail,the projects fail and the future gets frozen for a time till someone elsede-freezes it. It is therefore, the vested interest of the people to ensurethat the administrator succeeds.

We have been reporting negative stories but with a positive out-look. Our endeavour has been and shall remain to make theseislands a better place to live. With malice towards none!

Let us hope the year 2012 brings happy tidings for all of us.

SACRED | SPACE

Once upon a time two brothers, who livedon adjoining farms, fell into conflict. Itwas the first serious rift in 40 years of

farming side by side, sharing machinery, andtrading labor and goods as needed without aconflict. Then the long collaboration fell apart.It began with a small misunderstanding and itgrew into a major difference, and finally itexploded into an exchange of bitter words fol-lowed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John’sdoor. He opened it to find a man with a car-penter’s tool box. “I’m looking for a few days’work” he said. “Perhaps you would have a fewsmall jobs here and there I could help with?Could I help you?” “Yes,” said the older brother.“I do have a job for you.”

“Look across the creek at that farm. That’s myneighbor; in fact, it’s my younger brother. Lastweek there was a meadow between us and hetook his bulldozer to the river levee and nowthere is a creek between us. Well, he may havedone this to spite me, but I’ll do him one better.”

“See that pile of lumber by the barn? I wantyou to build me a fence –an 8-foot fence — so Iwon’t need to see his place or his face any-more.” The carpenter said, “I think I under-

stand the situation. Show me the nails and thepost-hole digger and I’ll be able to do a job thatpleases you.”

The older brother had to go to town, so hehelped the carpenter get the materials readyand then he was off for the day. The carpenterworked hard all that day measuring, sawing,nailing. About sunset when the farmerreturned, the carpenter had just finished hisjob.

The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jawdropped. There was no fence there at all. It wasa bridge — a bridge stretching from one side ofthe creek to the other! A fine piece of work,handrails and all — and the neighbor, hisyounger brother, was coming toward them, hishand outstretched.

“You are quite a fellow to build this bridgeafter all I’ve said and done.” The two brothersstood at each end of the bridge, and then theymet in the middle, taking each other’s hand.

They turned to see the carpenter hoist histoolbox onto his shoulder. “No, wait! Stay a fewdays. I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” saidthe older brother. “I’d love to stay on,” the car-penter said, but I have many more bridges tobuild.

Bridges of Life

BYDEBKUMARBHADRA

The masterpiece article in theLight of Andamans, Vol 35,Issue 22, dated 16 Dec 2011,

titled "The Administration : A col-lective portrait" traces the predica-ment faced by A&NAdministration (called family)bare and nude. It is ironic thatthough part of Indian democracy,governance in these islands is"one way" affair; as if those out-side the family neither have brainscapable of analysing things norhave a heart which could bleedwhen hurt. Consequently thehead of the family castled in themake believe world put up by thesubordinate members of the fam-ily is unable to take a view consid-erate to the needs, expectationsand aspirations of the islanders.

I still remember the days whenthe head of the family had to tourthe North and Middle Andamansonly to assure the islanders thattheir concerns on ATR and BufferZone will be taken care of. He said"…Buffer Zone will not causeinconvenience…there will be nodisplacement in this count…" Thepromise was repeated in the cov-eted 2011 Republic Day message

delivered in the august presenceof the members of the family andheard in every nook and corner ofthe islands.

Yet in reality, what happened isa sharp contrast and unbelieving-ly contradicts to what had beenpromised by the head of the fami-ly - The Buffer Zone Notification isstill in vogue and the fear amongthe Islanders looming large. Theexisting ATR convoy which wasinadequate and considered a hur-dle in the free movement ofIslanders has been reduced to 4from 8, making movement ofgoods, services, essential com-modities and the Islanders acrossATR even more harrowing. Toadd insult to the injury, heavygoods vehicles are let loose aheadof passenger cars and light motorvehicles in the revised convoy sys-tem.

The Islanders may not tell butthe dark clouds cast over the life-line of North and MiddleAndamans (I mean ATR) and thefear of losing whatever little theyhave, at the hands of their owngovernment is giving nightmaresto the Islanders. All due to inepthandling of island specific issuesby one or the other member of the

family. Further the unholy nexus,the underlying rift and lack ofmutual cooperation is adding tothe woes of the Islanders whoselife is already in shambles.

It is true, time and again thefamily had failed to take up mat-ters in right perspective leading todecisions which score fairly onadministrative grounds yet fallsflat on social parameters. But theminions in the Administration arenot to be blamed for this. If at allthey get a chance, matters aredealt faithfully as per the likes (ordislikes) of members sitting high-er in the family tree.

Moreover the family lacksunderstanding of each other'spresence and their role vis-à-visdevelopment of these Islands, itsunique environment, primitivetribes and non-tribal Islanders.That is why despite the familysetup working perfectly they endup creating dissent among theIslanders.

Probably the family is in need ofa messiah; who could see thingsfrom an Islander's perspective.Such a messiah can be no one bet-ter than the head of the familyhimself. But the point is who isreading this post!!!

Faithfully Yours

7 |home|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

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Homage Paid to Comrade HN Parial

The body of Comrade HN Parial, Former Secretary of CommunistParty of India (Marxist), A&N State Committee who died on Jan 5

was cremated on 7th Jan 2012 at Port Blair. Earlier, in the day, his bodywas kept at the State Committee Office, Shaheed Bhawan at Anarkali toenable leaders of various political parties, trade union and Govt.Employees Organisations pay their homage to the departed leader.

Meanwhile, condolences have poured in from different sections ofthe society on the death of HN Parial. The President, Pradesh CongressCommittee, Kuldeep Rai Sharma and other senior leaders of CongressParty have mourned the demise of HN Parial, renowned Trade UnionLeader, ex-Councilor, Pradesh Parishad.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), A&N State Committee hascondoled the death of Comrade HN Parial, former Secretary of theState Committee on Jan 5. In a condolence message, the Secretary StateCommittee, B. Chandrachoodan described HN Parial as one of theimportant leaders of CPI(M) Party in A&N Islands.

Meanwhile, the Centre of Trade Unions, A&N State Committee andthe Non-Gazetted Govt. Officers’ Association have also condoled thedeath of HN Parial, communications received here said.

Maruti Suzuki Lucky DrawWinners Announced

Agency House, the dealers for Maruti Suzuki has announced the win-ners of the first phase of the Luck Draw - Maruti ka Sizer. The Draw

was held on 8th Jan 2012 at ITF Grounds in front of a crowd of 5000people.

Fathima Bibi (Coupon No. 3785)from Calicut won the Maruti 800and Adam Ali (Coupon No 5845)from Buniyadabad won Maruti Altocar. The final phase of the draw will be held on 11th Jan 2012 at ITFGrounds, in which four cars and 20 consolation prozes are on stake.

LLOOSSTTII hhaavvee lloosstt mmyy PPAANN CCaarrdd NNoo.. AAGGAAPPRR11665544DD oonn 33rrddNNoovveemmbbeerr 22001111 wwhhiillee ttrraavveelllliinngg ffrroomm SSBBII AAbbeerrddeeeennBBaazzaarr ttoo SSuuppppllyy OOffffiiccee,, PPoorrtt BBllaaiirr.. FFiinnddeerrss aarree rreeqquueesstteeddttoo kkiinnddllyy hhaannddoovveerr iitt..

AArrcchhaannaa RRaajjSSuuppppllyy LLiinnee,, PPoorrtt BBllaaiirr

TThhee lloonngg lloosstt lloovvee bbeettwweeeenn tthhee SSttaattee BBJJPP aanndd BBiisshhnnuu PPaaddaa RRaayyiiss aallmmoosstt oovveerr.. SSppeeaakkiinngg ttoo LLOOAA,, BBiisshhnnuu ssaaiidd tthhaatt hhee iiss bbaacckk iinntthhee ppaarrttyy aanndd wwiillll rreemmaaiinn BBJJPP MMPP.. AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo aa ccoommmmuu--

nniiqquuéé rreecceeiivveedd ffrroomm tthhee NNaattiioonnaall PPrreessiiddeenntt,, BBiisshhnnuu’’ss rreeqquueesstt ttoorreejjooiinn tthhee ppaarrttyy hhaass bbeeeenn aacccceepptteedd..

I am Back in BJP:Bishnu Pada Ray

Twenty Six December 2004. The nature after exhibiting its resentment wasstill hissing with anger, but on a lower node. There were signs of devastation

everywhere in the islands left by the Tsunami waves. The worst it left was invis-ible fear and trauma in the minds of people. The people after losing near anddear ones and all belongings were compelled to stay in temporary shelters inschools, churches, stadiums, makeshift shelters and elsewhere.

Despites many odds, lacunae and shortcomings in the management of thevictims in the shelters and other areas, the A&N Administration did all its best toerase the shadow and ordeal of the catastrophe from the minds of the victims inparticular in shelters and all other residents of the islands in general. It providedfacilities of indoor and outdoor games, offered charges in school examination-son, religions discourses in camps and many more whatever were possible then.

Just after a few days. It was 4th or 5th of January 2005 in Car Nicobar, oneof the worst Tsunami affected area. 15 villages were massively devastated by thegiant waves of Tsunami. The scar of fear and trauma were maximum in theminds of the Nicobarese and others who survived in the Island. The people weresuffering from acute shortage of water in Headquarters the village headquarterof the Islands as they were adapted to tap water inside or close vicinity of theirhouse. The authorities were working hard to restore the tapped water supply inthe area.

It was about 10:30 in the morning when doctors were on round in the CivilHospital, Headquarter. Meanwhile, on the other side, the APWD succeeded insupplying the water in taps. The Hospital taps were open in many wards await-ing confirmation of water supply The water ran through the tap and an ecstaticward boy shouted to announce " Panni aa Gaya, Paani aa Gaya", And Lo ! Therewas chaos in the ward, which spread in the Hospital like a wild fire. Staff,patients, and their attendants rushed to find safer place in quest of survival.There also included a few patients who could hardly move with pain before afew minutes of the announcement. About 7-10 minutes it took to realize thatthis Paani (water) was in tap and not the sea water in form of Tsunami waves.

The trauma was at its peak in the minds who were ecstatic and panic simul-taneously. In both cases it was Paani - the water. —— MMuussaaffiirr

Paani: A Tsunami Trauma

PPrriinntteedd aanndd PPuubblliisshheedd bbyy BBaassuuddeevv DDaassss oonn bbeehhaallff ooff GGeezziirraa PPuubblliiccaattiioonnss PPvvtt.. LLttdd.. aatt WWiinnssttaarr,, 33,, PPoolliiccee MMoossqquuee SShhooppppiinngg CCoommpplleexx,, SSuuppppllyy LLaannee,, AAbbeerrddeeeenn BBaazzaarr,, PPoorrtt BBllaaiirr -- 774444110011.. MMbb:: 99993322008811777711,, EEmmaaiill:: lliigghhttooffaannddaammaannss@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm.. PPrriinntteedd aatt GGeezziirraa PPrriinntteerrss,, PPoorrtt BBllaaiirr.. FFoouunnddeerr EEddiittoorr:: PPaarraass RRaamm EEddiittoorr:: ZZuubbaaiirr AAhhmmeedd

candid | CAMERA8 |back|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 6 JANUARY 2012

chalte | CHALTE

ARTISTES FROM NORTH-EAST: These engineering students from North-East waiting to perform at Wimberly Gunj