The
premature death of Paul Joora, the former chairman of the Nicobarese
tribal council in the Great and Little Nicobar Islands, in 2012 has left
a void in the Nicobarese society. This article briefly reflects upon
Joora’s vision for the rehabilitation of his community in the aftermath
of the tsunami, which hit the Nicobar archipelago in 2004.
It was in December 2011 that I met Paul Joora, the chairman of the
Nicobarese tribal council in the Great and Little Nicobar Islands, for
the first time. I visited him to seek his permission to do an
ethnography of his community; a research which sought to study the
post-tsunami changes in the Nicobarese socio-cultural milieu. He was
pleased to welcome me to his community, and for the rest of my stay in
the islands, his house was my second base camp.
While leaving Campbell Bay (Great Nicobar Island) after field work, I
had never anticipated that I was bidding him a final adieu. In less
than a year, Joora died. He breathed his last at the primary health
center in Campbell Bay. The speculated cause of his death was a turtle
that he ate, which was allegedly poisonous. The then Lieutenant
Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, retired General Bhopinder
Singh condoled his sudden demise on 18 August 2012, and rued the void
his death had left in the Nicobarese society.
The premature death of the chairman was mourned by all Nicobarese
communities of the Nicobar archipelago. The settler (non-Nicobarese)
communities of the islands were equally shocked by the sudden demise of
Joora, who was merely in his late fifties. He was popularly viewed both
as a prominent tribal activist and a peace emissary among them. John
Robert, a member of the Campbell Bay panchayat samiti, said that
Joora’s death was a common loss to both the Nicobarese and the settler
communities of the islands.
A Visionary Leader
Joora is fondly remembered as a visionary leader who provided
political representation to his community through the Nicobarese tribal
council. He lobbied with the island administration, and the first
Nicobarese tribal council in the Great and Little Nicobar Islands was
formed in 2002-2003. Joora was its unanimously chosen chairman.
Formation of the Nicobarese tribal council marks an important milestone
in the Nicobarese history. It was a platform for the tribal community
to represent itself and propose its development agenda to the island
administration. While the chairman of the newly formed tribal council
was still charting his development plans for the villages in the tribal
reserve, the Nicobar archipelago was hit by a tsunami on 26 December
2004. The Great and Little Nicobar Islands, being close to the epicenter
of the earthquake, were severely devastated. The Nicobarese lost their
community members, livelihood, livestock and settlements.
Joora’s post-tsunami role was crucial for the survival of his
community. Before the catastrophe, the Nicobarese inhabited numerous
isolated pockets of the tribal reserve of the Great and Little Nicobar
Islands. They lived in a semi-permeable society with sporadic
cross-cultural contacts with the settler population of the Great
Nicobar. The community’s relatively isolated way of life posed numerous
challenges before the administration for an effective post-tsunami
humanitarian intervention. Joora proved to be a viable bridge between
the island administration and the tribal community. The Nicobarese under
his leadership exhibited unparalleled resilience and worked together
with the Island administration to normalise their lives. After the
tsunami, the tribal council chairman envisioned a unique blend of
traditional and modern lifestyle for his community. He not only
emphasised on preservation of the harmony and egalitarianism of the
Nicobarese traditional society, but also strived to get modern
facilities for his people through the post-tsunami humanitarian
interventions of the government.
Joora had a visionary plan for the remote tribal villages of the
Great and Little Nicobar ‒Afra Bay, Makachua, Pulo Panja, Pulopatia,
Pulobha, Puloulo‒ which he passionately elaborated upon during our
discussions at his house. Before his demise, he lobbied with the Nicobar
Islands’ administration for the consideration of his agenda for the
“five-year plan (2012-2017) for the welfare of tribal council”.
Infrastructure development and welfare services in tribal villages were
the top priorities of his development agenda. Health and medical
services, electricity, communication, transportation, fair price shops,
clean water supply, education and livelihood promotion were the felt
needs of his community. These demands, as Joora expressed, were simple
but pertinent for the survival of the Nicobarese in tribal villages.
Fall out of Humanitarian Interventions
The chairman worked closely with the island administration to chart
the course of post-tsunami humanitarian interventions in the Great and
Little Nicobar Islands. His major contribution, as Barnabas (a tribal
leader) communicated, was facilitating the allotment of permanent
shelters to the Nicobarese in the tribal reserve by the Island
administration. However, Joora was also critical of certain aspects of
the interventions of the administration, which, he argued, ushered
numerous unprecedented socio-cultural changes within his community. He
believed that he had lived two lives in a single lifetime: pre-tsunami
and post-tsunami. The pre-tsunami life of the Nicobarese was
characterised by coconut cultivation, pig rearing and hunting. The
community was self-sufficient and lived in absolute harmony with its
fragile island ecosystem. While in the post-tsunami phase, the
Nicobarese experienced dependency, disintegration of the family
structure and depression. The community, especially the youth developed
apathy for their traditional lifestyle.
Joora reasoned that the post-tsunami evacuation of the Nicobarese
from their natural habitats, and an extended stay (six years) in
intermediate shelters at Campbell Bay ruptured the socio-cultural fabric
of their community. Excess monetary compensation, free rations and lack
of livelihood options made the Nicobarese inactive and turned them into
consumerists and alcoholics. The death of elderly during the
catastrophe created a leadership vacuum, which in turn led to many
socio-cultural changes within the community after the tsunami. The
appointment of young and inexperienced Nicobarese as the captains
(leaders) of tribal villages altered the power relations within the
community. It gave excessive control to the island administration over
the Nicobarese. The Nicobarese who lived in
tuhets (a large
joint family) of 25 to 30 members were divided into nuclear families by
administration for the allotment of permanent shelters. It weakened the
social support system and adversely affected their livelihood. Copra
(smoke dried coconut) production, a highly labour intensive activity,
was the chief occupation of the Nicobarese. The community worked
together on coconut plantations. Now due to disintegration of
tuhets
and adoption of highly consumerist behavior by its members, the
community finds it difficult to work on coconut plantations and is
largely disengaged from its livelihood.
Post-tsunami, some Nicobarese chose to stay permanently at Campbell
Bay, while others returned to their tribal reserve. Joora, who lived in
Pulobha (a tribal village of the Little Nicobar islands) before the
tsunami, went back to his tribal reserve after things settlled down a
little. He argued that without viable livelihood options, the Nicobarese
stay at Campbell Bay was unsustainable. He was also of the view that
once the compensation money of the Nicobarese resettled at Campbell Bay
was exhausted, they would return to their villages. While stating the
reasons why some Nicobarese opted to stay in intermediate shelters
(Campbell Bay) even after the allotment of permanent shelters to them in
the tribal reserve, Joora said:
“The Nicobarese overstay
in intermediate shelters does not signify their dislike for the tribal
villages. Rather, it is the lack of amenities in tribal villages which
makes them overstay here (Campbell Bay). Rudimentary facilities in
tribal villages like clean water, electricity, medical services are
inadequate. After spending six years at Campbell Bay, my people are also
changed people now. They find it difficult to live without the
amenities that they are accustomed to while staying here”.
Livelihood Concerns and Future Challenges
Many of these concerns, which the chairman had discussed with the
island administration, still face the tribal community. An adequate
infrastructure development and basic welfare services in the Nicobarese
villages located in the tribal reserve are crucial for the dignified
survival of the community. Easy access to services like health,
education, clean water and electricity will remain prominent concerns
of the Nicobarese. Construction of a sea wall, cement concrete (CC)
approach roads connecting shelters to the plantations and shore, jetties
to berth ferries and inter-island vessel services in tribal villages
are the felt needs of the Nicobarese. On top of inadequate medical
facilities, infrequent transportation facilities and lack of telecom
facilities make it impossible to seek any outside help in case of
medical emergencies in tribal villages. The Nicobarese, for instance in
the village of Makachua have been subsisting on rooftop rain water
harvesting, or they fetch water from the hills, which is usually
contaminated. The main livelihood of the community, which is associated
with coconut plantations, could not be revived after it was destroyed
during the tsunami.
There are numerous challenges which the community will face in the
near future. For instance, with limited opportunities available for
earning a livelihood, what will happen to the Nicobarese once their
compensation money is exhausted? The island administration generated
employment for the Nicobarese through the implementation of Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). However, the
community showed negligible interest in the scheme. Joora argued that
MGNREGA did not work for the Nicobarese, as wage labour had never been a
part of their culture. As a viable alternative to wage labour, the
chairman emphasised the promotion of traditional livelihood activities.
In his recommendations to the “five-year plan (2012-2017) for the
welfare of tribal council” he stressed on the need to establish
subcentres of agriculture and fisheries department in tribal villages.
These subcentres would promote scientific know-how among the Nicobarese
for carrying out profitable and sustainable horticultural and fisheries
activities in the islands. Engagement in traditional livelihood
activities and availability of modern facilities in the tribal villages,
would help the community regain its self-sufficiency, cohesion and
sustainability.
Joora’s recommendations were substantial and culturally sensitive.
They addressed the post-tsunami concerns of his community. He was also
hopeful that one day his community would subsist with all the modern
facilities without compromising the traditional harmony and its
principles of egalitarianism. Now that he is no more, young Barnabas,
who has long served the tribal council as secretary, has been appointed
its new chairman. Only time will tell, if the Nicobarese could lead a
life blending modernity and tradition, which its stalwart leader Joora
had envisaged. Now, the new chairman has a crucial role to play. However
his task will not be easy, as the Nicobarese society is in a phase of
transition post-tsunami
