Andaman police start probe into Jarawa video

NEW DELHI: With Andaman police registering a case against unknown persons in connection with the video of semi-naked Jarawa tribals being made to dance in return for food, the Centre on Thursday said it had asked the Union Territory administration to quickly apprehend the videographer and the tour operator concerned and interrogate them. 

Asked about the probe, home minister P Chidambaram said, "Now we have got a copy of the video, we have subjected that video to an analysis. It appears that the particular video was shot, I am not talking about any other video, may be there is more than one... that particular video we have been able to date it and its about 3-4 years ago."  He said instructions had been issued to the Andaman & Nicobar administration to quickly apprehend the videographer and the tour operator concerned. "Whatever policy has been adopted by the Andaman and Nicobar administration is in place. I think what happened was a violation of that policy," Chidambaram said.  A massive hunt has, meanwhile, been launched by the UT administration to nab the persons responsible for videographing semi-naked Jarawa tribal women dancing in front of tourists. The A&N Police have formed a special team led by a deputy superintendent of police which will seek help of cyber cell of central agencies in cracking the computer from where it was hosted.  The issue sparked a controversy when London-based newspaper 'Observor' reported the alleged incident and also uploaded a video.  The BJP, meanwhile, said the Jarawas and other tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands should be included in the mainstream of development and should not be left to lead primitive lives.  BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar said denying anyone the right to come into the mainstream was wrong. "The government should review its policy on the tribes, they should try to understand their aspiration," he said.  "You cannot deny them the right to development, and to become a part of the mainstream. I have seen the Jarawas coming to the road, to ambulances and getting medical aid," he added.