The Northern Sentinel Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is in discussion. In fact, a 24 -year -old American citizen tried to enter the banned island. This island is the whereabouts of the Sentinels, one of the most isolated tribes in the world. There is a fear that even if a minor infection like cold and cough reaches there due to external infiltration, the tribe may end. This has happened with many more tribes in the world, which were settled on dense forests or islands.
What and how it happened
Mikhailo Victorovich Polykov first reached the Port Blair of Andaman and from there reached the island by rubber boat. Before leaving, he had also studied the essential things like sea boom, wind speed so that the journey would not be interrupted. After reaching the shore there, he spent almost an hour so that some people of the tribe could be seen. Also recorded a video of this journey and returned with sand samples.
Before returning, the person also left a bottle of coke and coconut. In return, he was seen by local fishermen and informed the police. Polykov had allegedly made such efforts in last October. Now he is being questioned in custody that what was his motive.
Why can be dangerous
Sentinelies have been cut from all over the world for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. Their immune system modern is also not able to fight the world’s common virus. For example, diseases like cold or smallpox that pass by touching us, it can be very dangerous. If a outsider goes to the island with infection, then that disease can spread to these people. They have neither medicines, nor the facility of investigation, in such a situation the entire community will be over. This is the reason that our government has banned the entry of outsiders on this island since the fifties, so that the security of the tribe can be confirmed.
Efforts have been made earlier
In the year 1956, before the ban in independent India, a British officer made such an effort in the year 1880. Naval officer Morris Widel forcibly picked up an elderly couple and four children from the island for research and brought it along. The couples ended with infection in no time. The children were hurriedly released back to the island but may not even survive.
The British survey team used to patrol around the island from time to time but people started shooting arrows. Soon it was understood that this community does not want external intervention.
Rule of safety made
Even after independence, many attempts were made for research. Like leaving gifts on the shore. But the attitude of the Sentinelies was clear. They would shoot arrows, shout and run into the forests. Many people also got caught in troubles during this mission of friendship. Only after this, the government created the Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation (ANPATR) in 1956 and left the people of the island completely free.
It was also called the Hands of Policy. Now they are legally safe from the outside world and if anyone contacts them, he can be arrested, as it happened recently. In the year 2018 too, an American missionary reached there, who was killed by the community settled there itself.
Has it ever happened that a tribal community has ended with external infection
Yes. This has happened many times before, especially in America, Australia and South America. When Columbus and Europeans came to America, they contacted the tribal groups there. These people brought diseases like smallpox, flu with them. Then a large part of the tribal population was over only with infection, without any attack or war.
Especially the Caribbean tribe Tino, which was first received from Columbus, disappeared. After meeting them in the year 1492, Columbus wrote that those people are innocent and hardworking, whose religion can also be changed. Soon he started getting wages. Meanwhile, diseases like flu and smallpox reached the population from Columbus and his associates. There was no immunity for this in Tino, they started to end and then completely disappeared.
Many such cases were seen in the world. Anyway, even if the infection is not eliminated from the infection, tribals also lose their identity with modern people, this is also a kind of risk.