Since
Gethin Chamberlain revealed how Andaman Islands tribes people were being bribed and bullied into 'performing' for tours, India's government has taken up the
cause of ethical tourism. But some travel companies still offer titillating
trips to remote areas to see their indigenous people
They are
holidays billed as an opportunity to enter another world, a chance to see the
world's last primitive tribes up close in their natural environment.
The
brochures tease and at times, critics say, titillate. Take the Delhi-based Aces
Indian Tours, which invites visitors to travel to see the Bonda people, an
ancient tribe found in the remote hilly regions of the state of Orissa. The
website breathily offers to provide an insight into utterly different lives.
"On the northwest of river Machkund", it states, "live the
wildest, rudest and possibly the most interesting tribe known as Bonda Tribe.
The scanty dress of the Bonda women and homicidal tendency of Bonda males make
them most fascinating people."
It is this
kind of exotic invitation that has now come under unprecedented scrutiny in
India, raising ethical issues that also apply to similar tours in other remote
regions of the world.
Every year,
thousands of western tourists visit India in search of the exotic. But two
weeks after an Observer investigation exposed the degradation of "human
safaris" in the Andaman Islands – which are in Indian territory – the
country's travel industry has entered a bout of soul-searching. The Observer
exposed video evidence that Jarawa tribeswomen had been bullied into dancing
for convoys of visitors on the islands' main road. The reaction has been
furious. Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress party, has taken a personal
interest in the 400-strong Jarawa's fate and is understood to be frustrated by
the lack of action to protect them. At a meeting last week of the powerful
National Advisory Council, which she chairs, members denounced the
"deplorable situation of the exploitation of the Jarawa tribe".
The
investigation has now prompted the home minister, P Chidambaram, to demand the
interrogation of those responsible. He has flown to the Andamans to tell
officials there to act swiftly to prevent further abuse of the tribe. Tribal
affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said: "It's deplorable. You cannot
treat human beings like beasts for the sake of money. Whatever kind of tourism
is that? I totally disapprove and it is being banned."
But what
about elsewhere in India, and in other parts of the world? In the case of the
Jarawa, there is little doubt that the tribespeople have been exploited by
unscrupulous locals and insensitive visitors. Elsewhere, ethical lines are
usually more blurred, but the risk of damaging contact with vulnerable
communities is very real.
In 1989,
India introduced the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act in an attempt to protect indigenous communities from
"indignities, humiliations and harassment". But with the number of
tourists across the world expected to hit a billion this year and previously
inaccessible places beginning to open up for more and more people, how close
should travellers be allowed to come to vulnerable communities?
One of the
most popular destinations in India is Orissa, where tour operators promise
sightings of the insular Bonda when the tribespeople leave their homes to go to
a market in the village of Onkadeli. Entry into the Bonda's own villages is
illegal: the tribe do not invite attention and many dislike being photographed,
but the market offers a way to view them, and the tours continue. Even the
state tourist board uses images of the tribe in its adverts.
Royal India
Holidays, with offices in India and the US, offers a tribal tour of Orissa
where it promises tourists can "see the lifestyle of tattooed, heavily
beaded, nearly naked tribal people, their day to day activity and their
extremely primitive way of living".
The company
says it is recognised by India's ministry of tourism. Its brochure describes a
trip to the Jeypore area of Orissa: "After breakfast, an excursion to the
nearby hills where most amazing and fierce Bondas Tribes (naked people) reside.
They are also known as Remo meaning 'people'. The Bonda are generally semi-clothed,
with the women characterised by the wearing of thick silver necklace bands. The
tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive with their culture little changed
in over a thousand years. The best way to view members of the tribe is by going
to local markets held every Thursday."
Company
owner Newton Singh told the Observer that most tours in Orissa focused on the
tribes. He said he believed that the company was operating within the law but
it relied on local agents in Orissa. He said he understood the objections and
would review the tours. "I don't want to do anything against the laws of
humanity," he said.
Bhubaneswar-based
Dove Tours offers a tour of Orissa in which, it explains, "the area we
visit is the home of the approximately 6,000 members of the fierce Bondas
(naked people). They live in the remote hills and keep themselves isolated …
They can only be seen when they come to trade at the local market, and we must
time our visit to coincide with the weekly market day."
Gagan
Sarangi, speaking for the company, said it operated within responsible
guidelines and only dealt with tourists who would respect the tribe. He said
foreign tourists were barred from the Bonda's area, but it was still possible
to spot them in the markets. "We are totally against any kind of unethical
practices in the tribal area," he said.
Survival
International, which campaigns on behalf of tribal peoples, is sceptical that
such a high-minded approach is reflected by what takes place on the ground. The
charity's director Stephen Corry said: "We are now in the 21st century,
not the 19th. Colonialism should be a thing of the past. Tribes are not
cultural relics, nor should they be treated like animals in a zoo.
"They
are not ancient or backward, but adapting like everybody around us to a
changing world. This should entitle them to the same rights and freedoms as the
very tourists who are taking their photographs.
"Promoting
tours by using derogatory terms such as 'primitive', and advertising their
'nakedness', shows a clear lack of respect."
Corry said
tour operators had no right to promote tribal people as a tourist attraction.
"Forcing them to dance in return for sweets and biscuits, for the
amusement of onlookers, is only possible where they're viewed as somehow less
than fully human," he said. "Sadly, the existence of human safaris in
the Andamans is not isolated, but replicated in other areas of India. It is
crucial tourists boycott such unethical 'attractions', so there is no fuel in
the market to drive such tasteless practices."
Association
of British Travel Agents spokesman Sean Tipton said the travel industry
recognised the necessity of regulating and monitoring interaction between
tourists and tribes. "Customers should always seek permission before
taking photographs of indigenous people, or indeed any local people. This is a
matter of courtesy and cross-cultural sensitivity."
Sue
Ockwell, for the Association of Independent Tour Operators, was also keen to
emphasise that its member companies were against the sort of "tacky
tourism" seen in the Andamans. "The aim of Aito is to ensure that
host destinations and local people at tourism destinations benefit from tourism
as well as those who take tourists," she said.
"Unfortunately,
exploitation does still occur – from child prostitution to the type of practice
described in the Andamans. It requires action by UK tour operators and
associations such as Aito and Abta and it also requires action by governments
in the destinations affected. It is only by working together that this sort of
business can be stamped out."
Clearly,
though, more needs to be done. Blogging about a visit to Onkadeli, one tourist
noted that the attention of tourists was clearly unwelcome to some of the
tribal people: "There were a few tourists around (including myself) and
truth be said, it all felt a little rude and intrusive! Some of the adivasis
[indigenous tribes] were clearly uncomfortable with camera-wielding tourists,
so I started to only take pictures with their permission. This would almost
always result in my having to part with 10 rupees [about 13p]!"
British
travel firm Audley Travel, winner of three Guardian-Observer travel awards for
best small tour operator, offers tours to Orissa in which it promises sightings
of the Bonda tribe, despite acknowledging that photographing them may be
banned. The company said it firmly advocated responsible tourism and only took
individuals or couples.
"They
are accompanied by tour guides who are well briefed on the cultural sensitivity
of the situation, particularly photography. Our clients themselves are
intelligent, informed travellers whose last intention would be to 'gawp' at
local people."
Meanwhile,
in the Andaman Islands, police say they have made some progress in identifying
those responsible for filming the video publicised by the Observer, which is
now believed to have been shot in September or October of 2008. "The
police team is questioning several tour operators and taxi drivers of the city
in an effort to track down the source of the video," said S B Tyagi, superintendent
of police. Officers have raided several shops in the town in an attempt to
seize videos of the Jarawa that have been circulating among tour operators and
which are sold to tourists.
Police
announced on Thursday that a senior officer had been placed in charge of
monitoring the road and said they had arrested two tour operators named in the
Observer report.
The
lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bhopinder Singh, has
been ordered to take action to prevent further exploitation of the Jarawa.
Tribal affairs minister Krishna Chandra Deo described the incident as
"disgraceful and a shame on all of us" and said the tribe should be
treated as humans, not aliens.
As the
country digests the implications of the scandal, Corry said tourists
considering visiting tribal areas needed to think very carefully about the
long-term effects on tribal peoples, instead of the "fleeting thrill of
the experience or the glory of the story once back home".
