<p>Even as India struggles to contain Covid-19 infections across the country, a tragedy is unfolding in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI). Five members of the Great Andamanese tribal group have tested positive for the coronavirus. This may seem a small, even negligible number. It is not as the Great Andamanese are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). There are just 44 of them, according to the 2001 Census, which means that they are on the brink of extinction. Five of the ANI’s six indigenous communities have been declared PVTGs. While there are around 380 Jarawa, 101 Onge and 229 Shompen, there are just 15 Sentinelese surviving today. People with high immunity and access to the best of healthcare have fallen prey to the coronavirus and many have even lost their lives. The ANI’s tribal communities are particular vulnerable to the virus as they are known to have very low immunity. The loss of even one life to Covid-19 could be disastrous as it will bring these PVTGs closer to extinction.</p>.<p>Contact with the outside world has not worked well for the ANI’s indigenous communities. During colonial rule, European settlers introduced diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis and measles that were foreign to the archipelago. Thousands of tribals contracted infections and many perished. The size of the indigenous communities diminished precipitously and some like the Aka Kols and Aka Bea became extinct in the early decades of the 20th century. The last surviving member of the Bo, a subgroup of the Great Andamanese perished in 2010. The Jarawa, a group that is perhaps the PVTG that is most in touch with settlers in the ANI, has suffered grievously. It has fallen prey to repeated measles outbreaks in recent decades.</p>.<p>ANI authorities say that outsiders infected the Great Andamanese. It is important that all those infected are isolated. It is important, too, that members of this community as well as the other PVTGs are isolated immediately. Interaction between them and outsiders must be halted and the Andaman Trunk Road, which links Port Blair with Diglipur and runs through the Jarawa Reserve should be shut down immediately. This road may be an economic lifeline for the outsiders living and working in the ANI but for the archipelago’s indigenous groups, this highway has only brought disease and destruction. All members of the PVTGs are being tested for Convid-19 infection. This will not be possible with the highly hostile Sentinelese. India must enable the survival of the ANI’s indigenous communities.</p>
<p>Even as India struggles to contain Covid-19 infections across the country, a tragedy is unfolding in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI). Five members of the Great Andamanese tribal group have tested positive for the coronavirus. This may seem a small, even negligible number. It is not as the Great Andamanese are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). There are just 44 of them, according to the 2001 Census, which means that they are on the brink of extinction. Five of the ANI’s six indigenous communities have been declared PVTGs. While there are around 380 Jarawa, 101 Onge and 229 Shompen, there are just 15 Sentinelese surviving today. People with high immunity and access to the best of healthcare have fallen prey to the coronavirus and many have even lost their lives. The ANI’s tribal communities are particular vulnerable to the virus as they are known to have very low immunity. The loss of even one life to Covid-19 could be disastrous as it will bring these PVTGs closer to extinction.</p>.<p>Contact with the outside world has not worked well for the ANI’s indigenous communities. During colonial rule, European settlers introduced diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis and measles that were foreign to the archipelago. Thousands of tribals contracted infections and many perished. The size of the indigenous communities diminished precipitously and some like the Aka Kols and Aka Bea became extinct in the early decades of the 20th century. The last surviving member of the Bo, a subgroup of the Great Andamanese perished in 2010. The Jarawa, a group that is perhaps the PVTG that is most in touch with settlers in the ANI, has suffered grievously. It has fallen prey to repeated measles outbreaks in recent decades.</p>.<p>ANI authorities say that outsiders infected the Great Andamanese. It is important that all those infected are isolated. It is important, too, that members of this community as well as the other PVTGs are isolated immediately. Interaction between them and outsiders must be halted and the Andaman Trunk Road, which links Port Blair with Diglipur and runs through the Jarawa Reserve should be shut down immediately. This road may be an economic lifeline for the outsiders living and working in the ANI but for the archipelago’s indigenous groups, this highway has only brought disease and destruction. All members of the PVTGs are being tested for Convid-19 infection. This will not be possible with the highly hostile Sentinelese. India must enable the survival of the ANI’s indigenous communities.</p>
