DISCUSSION
‘Outsider, We Love and Fear You’ Dialogue with the Nicobarese Ajay Saini
The Nicobarese are not against “outsiders” and have a long tradition of embracing different cultures. They respect religious heterogeneity and even though the Hindu population in Kamorta and Katchal is small, there are numerous Hindu temples around, to which the Nicobarese have never objected. Their opposition to marriage alliances with outsiders is not religiously motivated but provoked by the undue advantage that the non-Nicobarese have taken by encroaching on their land and also disrupting the hitherto harmonious socio-economic dynamics. A response to Swapan K Biswas’s article “Interreligious Marriage in Nicobar Islands: Opportunities and Challenges” (EPW, 30 May 2015).
The author acknowledges the guidance received from S Parasuraman. Ajay Saini (
[email protected]) teaches at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
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n his article, “Interreligious Marriage in Nicobar Islands: Opportunities and Challenges” (EPW, 30 May 2015), Swapan K Biswas touched upon a sensitive issue and aptly argued that conversions and interfaith marriages were common among the Nicobarese. Of late, the tribal leadership of Nancowry has opposed out-group marriage alliances for which the author gave two reasons: the power tussle between the Muslim and Christian Nicobarese and reservation politics. The precipitating factors for opposing marriages with outsiders, which the author has entirely missed, are intricately linked with a gradual shift in the outsider’s identity—from a munificent patron of the community to a menacing agent. Since the issue is critical and the Nicobarese secular identity is at stake, it needs to be analysed in the context of larger sociocultural and economic dynamics that have recently compounded the situation in Nancowry. (Re)Setting the Context Biswas’s article appears promising and well contextualised in the beginning. However, as it progresses, it proffers a fractured analysis; and in the end, reduces the most pressing issue in the Nicobar to petty communal and reservation politics. Disconnected from field realities, the article fails to analyse the fluid intra and inter community relations in Nancowry. It seems to be based on the author’s casual observations, which he also implicitly conveys at three instances: “my colleague...revealed,” “according to some scholars who are observing…” and “some scholars attribute…” On top of factual inconsistencies and skewed analysis, the article also appears distasteful given its racist remarks. While alluding to the
indigenes of the Andaman Islands, the author twice uses a racist term “primitive” that was abandoned a decade ago. In 2006, the Indian government replaced the term “primitive tribal group” with “particularly vulnerable tribal group.” Terms like “savage,” “stone age” and “primitive” have been used since colonial era, which reinforce the belief that the indigenes are backward people. Governments use such terms as a pretext for forced development, whereby the indigenes are alienated from their land and resources. Therefore, by labelling the indigenes of the Andaman as “primitive,” the author reinforces the abovementioned discourse that disempowers the indigenes. The article also has multiple factual errors. The author’s claim that the “Britishers permanently occupied both the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1858 with a plan to start a penal settlement to imprison Indian prisoners who revolted against them in 1857,” is wrong. In fact, it was only in 1868 that the Nicobar became a part of British India. The Danish first occupied the Nicobar on 12 December 1755, renamed it as New Denmark, but abandoned it in April 1759. Later, Austria also occupied and abandoned it. The British first occupied the Nicobar in 1807, but abandoned it in 1814. Until 1868, the Danish enjoyed sovereign rights over the Nicobar, which were sold to Britain on 16 October 1868 (Cahoon 2015). The construction of a penal settlement on Kamorta Island, wherein 262 prisoners were incarcerated in 1869, and which got abandoned in 1888, was part of a strategic manoeuvre. After the withdrawal of the Danish, the Nicobar became infamous for piracy for the next two decades, where foreign pirates captured or damaged 26 passing vessels. The British colonised the Nicobar to control piracy and to curb the rival naval power in the countries of the immediate east (Singh 1978; Tamta 1992). Contrary to the author’s claim, the French never “occupied” the Nicobar, though the French missionaries had some unsuccessful conversion stints in the islands.
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The Nicobarese opposition to marriages with outsiders needs to be analysed in the backdrop of their changing relations. The Nicobarese have always lived isolated with intermittent crosscultural contacts. Until the advent of the missionaries, they had remained almost immune to change. Since the 15th century, the Portuguese, French, Danish and Italian missionaries attempted conversions among the Nicobarese. However, it was only during the British regime and after the World War II that the community embraced Christianity. With their conversion to Christianity (98%) and Islam (2%), the indigenes imbibed new values that ushered sociocultural change among them. While all the indigenes converted to organised religions, some also continued observing their animist rituals. With no conflict of religious faith, the Nicobarese society became a unique blend of Christianity, Islam and animism. Since the Nicobarese had the freedom to choose or reject the cultural traits of their newly adopted religions, the process of change among them was not disruptive. As the British were not interested in generating revenue from the Nicobar, the indigenes were never coerced to pay tax. With the opening of missionary schools and gradual awareness among the Nicobarese, the exploitative nature of their trade relations with the outsiders changed. The sociocultural change gained momentum after the independence of India. In 1956, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation (ANPATR) was promulgated, which recognised the Nicobar as a tribal reserve and proscribed outsiders’ entry. With the development of public infrastructure in the islands, the Nicobarese received rudimentary amenities, such as healthcare, schooling, electricity, clean water and so on. The introduction of modern horticulture practices and cooperative movements streamlined the Nicobarese livelihood. While the rest of the indigenes experienced depopulation in the colonial and the postcolonial epochs, the Nicobarese prospered. The community perceived the outsider as a munificent patron and inter-island,
inter-religion and out-group marriages remained common in the Nicobar.
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Munificent to Menacing Post independence, the outsider’s identity among the indigenes has gradually shifted from being a munificent patron to a menacing agent. In the Nicobar, the Nicobarese tuhets (extended families) exercise traditional ownership of land. On the request of the government, the community donated some land for administrative purposes. With the setting up of governmental apparatus in Nancowry, a large number of outsiders were deployed in the islands. These people constructed their hutments in Kamorta and gradually encroached upon the nearby land. Even after retirement, a large number of them have not left the tribal reserve and their illegal settlement has caused land encroachment issues in the islands. The most sensitive encroachments are related to a piece of land that the community allotted in goodwill to government employees for religious purpose. With the consent of Rani Lachmi, the deputy commissioner, vide order no 4/26/41/B-1, dated 4 January 1954, allotted five acres
of land to government employees at Kamorta for constructing a temple and raising a park.1 The temple management committee used 200 square metres (approximately) land for temple construction, while the rest was used for construction of shops and residential buildings that were rented to outsiders. Since such land usage violated the terms of the land allotment order and ANPATR, the Nicobarese took up the matter with the administration. However, in July 1996, the assistant commissioner, Nancowry passed a contentious order and permitted 34 outsiders to reside and carry on business in Kamorta.2 Many outsiders took advantage of the order and migrated to the Nicobar. The influx of outsiders in the tribal reserve has led to economic exploitation and sociocultural rupture among the Nicobarese. With a rise in crime rate, especially the ANPATR violations, the Nicobarese peaceful society has come under immense pressure. With the help of local activists, the Nicobarese filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court against encroachments. Vide its order, dated 12 December 2002, the high court directed the Lt Governor to
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implement the provisions of ANPATR.3 In pursuance of the same, the deputy commissioner issued an order (No 433) on 13 October 2004 for the repatriation of outsiders. However, the tsunami of December 2004 pre-empted the repatriation process, and ever since then the issue has been pending. With the inundation of large tracks of land and destruction of traditional livelihoods post tsunami, the encroachment issue has become critical. Other islands of Nancowry, especially Katchal, also grapple with land encroachments. The Nicobarese argue that unsolicited outsiders come to the islands to exploit the community, and some of them have married the Nicobarese girls only to stay and establish business in the islands. Conclusions The Nicobarese, per se, have no aversion to out-groups. In fact, it is the only indigenous community in the islands which has embraced different cultures. The indigenes respect religious heterogeneity and participate in Eid, Christmas and
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Durga puja celebrations in the islands. Even though the Hindu population in Kamorta and Katchal is small, there are numerous Hindu temples around, to which the Nicobarese have never objected. Rather, they have cooperated in the construction of temples by offering land. Therefore, the Nicobarese opposition to marriage alliances with outsiders is not religiously motivated. As evidenced in this discussion, the changing socioeconomic dynamics are the core of the problem. The tribal leadership is so anxious about the “colonisation of central Nicobar by outsiders” that it even requested the administration to stop all the development activities in the islands for a year and use the same resources to repatriate the unsolicited outsiders. 4 In its effort to solve the encroachment issue, the community has tried everything that it could: requested the outsiders, approached the administration and petitioned the high court. However, justice has always eluded it. In its frantic effort to shield the community from further disintegration, the tribal leadership has
opposed marriages with outsiders as a last resort. In retrospect, I am reminded of my dialogue with a Nicobarese captain, who on being asked about his opinion of the outsider, paused for a moment and replied rather philosophically, “Outsider, we love and fear them.” The Nicobarese love outsiders, as they have brought happiness and prosperity to the community. Now they also fear them since the outsiders are stealing the same from the community. Notes 1 2
3 4
The government servants could only get 2.64 acres of land in 1969. A document “Use of Land Allotted to Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple Complex at Kamorta,” dated 6 June 2007; accessed from the office of the assistant commissioner, Nancowry. F No 39-292/2003-revenue. A letter, ABAVP/ANI2007/01; accessed from the office of Nancowry Tribal Council.
References Cahoon, Ben (2015): “Provinces of British India,” Worldstatesmen.org, viewed on 6 July 2015, http://worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Andaman. Singh, Iqbal N (1978): The Andaman Story, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. Tamta, B R (1992): Andaman and Nicobar Islands, New Delhi: National Book Trust.
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