Activists alarmed by plans to hand reclusive Indian island tribe voter IDs
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Officials are calling the decision to register rarely-contacted islanders for local elections a historic step. But rights groups say it is a ‘publicity stunt’ to cover up a much bigger problem. Maroosha Muzaffar reports. The Indian government has distributed voter ID cards for the first time to members of a reclusive Andaman islands tribe, drawing concerns from activists that the event was a “publicity stunt” to distract from the imminent mass-scale industrialisation of their fragile homeland.
![[Picture taken in November last year of tourist vehicles queuing up to go through the reserve hoping to ‘spot’ the Jarawa]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-15-at-10.15.44.jpg)
The decision to issue identification documents that confirm an individual’s right to participate in elections is being promoted by the Narendra Modi government as a historic step towards the democratic evolution of the semi-Nomadic Jarawa tribe. Senior local administrative official Chandra Bhushan Kumar distributed these cards among 19 members of the tribe earlier this month in the federal territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Local officials said the enrolment process was designed to minimise disruption to their daily lives while maximising their understanding of their rights as Indian citizens.
![[Tourist shops in the Andaman Islands sell statues of the Jarawa to tourists]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-15-at-10.15.43.jpg)
Jarawas are one of five tribes inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands ranked as “particularly vulnerable” by the Anthropological Survey of India. The others are the North Sentinelese, Great Andamanese, Onge, and Shompen. Jarawas have traditionally been reclusive, maintaining limited contact with the outside world. They live deep inside the forests on the western coasts of South and Middle Andaman Islands, which are known for their rich biodiversity. The tribes are thought to have inhabited their Indian Ocean homeland for as long as 55,000 years.
