Cracking the whip, the Andaman & Nicobar police on Sunday warned tour operators of stern action if they resort to “Jarawa tourism” by offering tourists any glimpse of the near-extinct tribe as part of their package.
This follows advertisements appearing on the Internet about agents, tour operators and drivers offering such packages to woo tourists. The police will take action against such operators and practices, DGP S.B. Deol said. He said the word “Jarawa” appearing on the website of any tour advertisement will lead to an immediate case being registered and arrests of those concerned.
A controversy had erupted last Wednesday over a video footage showing semi-naked Jarawa tribal women in the islands allegedly being ordered to dance. The police on Sunday said a tourist from West Bengal has been detained for video-graphing two men of the tribe on the Andaman Trunk Road, a key road of the islands, while travelling from Middle Strait to Port Blair on Friday.
The tourist was detained at Jirkatang check post and his camera seized. There were two footages in the featuring a couple of Jarawa men walking on the Andaman Trunk Road, police said. He was let off with a warning.
Deol said drivers and tour operators would be held responsible for any contact of the tourists with the Jarawas, or any infringement of rules. Police personnel in the guise of tourists and genuine tourists would be used to catch the agents.