DISGUSTING - Human beings treated as zoo animals

Politicians and human rights campaigners are condemning a video which shows native Indian peoples being made to dance for food.

LONDON, ENGLAND (Catholic Online) - The British newspaper The Observer  released an undated video that shows Jarawa tribal women dancing for food. The video was released Wednesday. The Jarawa people are one of the native tribes that live on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

The Jarawa people are protected by Indian law which strictly forbids outsiders from having contact with them. Since the video depicts such contact, investigators believe that local police and tourists acted together to break the law. It is suspected to be the result of bribery. Tourism is a major industry on the islands, and there have been problems with tour guides ignoring the laws established to protect the natives.

In addition to breaking the law, the treatment of other human beings as depicted in the video is simply deplorable.

In the video, a tourist can be heard telling several of the natives that they are being given food and should eat it. The tourist goes on to explain that another tour will come along behind them with more food. The food was being offered as a reward for dancing. Several natives, including women, clad only in grass skirts, danced for the handouts.

At one point, a tourist is heard yelling at a naked woman, "Dance for me! Dance now!"

Not only is the video evidence of corruption, but it is also a demonstration of dehumanizing behavior on behalf of tourists towards the native peoples -- essentially treating them as performing animals.

Naturally, Indian officials and rights groups are disgusted. The Indian government has vowed to investigate the origins of the video.

Officials have cautioned that they have not yet verified the authenticity of the film, nor are they certain when the footage was shot. It is believed that the footage is dated by at least a few years.
In any case, India's Ministry of Tribal Affairs announced that an inquiry had been ordered and that the Chief Secretary and Director General of the police of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands would head the investigation.

Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International said, "Quite clearly, some people's attitudes towards tribal peoples haven't moved on a jot. The Jarawa are not circus ponies bound to dance at anyone's bidding."

Fortunately, security on the islands has been increased to protect native people from outsiders. The natives have only the most minimal contact with outsiders because it is feared that foreigners could bring illness and other trouble to the otherwise peaceful people. Sadly, these protections have come too late for many of the natives. In January of 2010, one tribe, the Bo, died out as its last member passed away.

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None of the native tribes boasts more than 350 souls in their number, and experts fear they could each be dying off -- making the behavior depicted in the video all the more despicable.

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