'Reports on Jarawa women forced to dance highly irresponsible'

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration on Wednesday termed as "highly irresponsible" the media reports that said a group of scantily-clad Jarawa tribe women were allegedly forced to dance in front of tourists. While the administration expressed that it was not clear in which year the video clip was recorded. It said it was amply clear that the person alleged to have asked the women to do so was not a policeman.

"It is clarified that at the time this video was recorded, most of the Jarawas did not wear clothes. Even today those in the jungle are not clothed. It is also obvious that it is videographer (who is breaking the law of the land) and who is inciting them to dance," a statement released by the state police said.

It is amply evident that the person alleged to be a policeman is not a policeman as has been widely and erroneously reported, the statement added. London-based daily Observer, which had claimed in its report that a policeman had taken bribe to make the tribals, especially women, dance naked, has also been asked to apologise to the local police and to "name the videographer so that legal action could be initiated against him for recording and releasing the video thereby lowering the dignity of the members of Jarawa tribe".

Commenting on the role of NGOs SEARCH and Survival International, the police expressed its surprise over the work being undertaken by these groups in the name of protecting the primitive tribes of the world. The police alleged that the director and employees of the local NGO have taken up on themselves to draw fat salaries and benefits from funds donated for primitive tribes. "It is obvious that funds are low and have to be stimulated by such sensational lies," it added.