Wampum

Andaman and Nicobar Update

Updates: Amitabh Bhattasali writes for the BBC from "Off The Rez" at Car Nicobar and Campbell Bay.
Also: NGOs barred from Andamans.

I've found the A&N Indigenous info. Post shortly.

Medecins Sans Frontieres was the first international aid agency to get relief supplies to the Andamans. At present, the supplies are still at the airport in Port Blair. Stuart Zimble (MSF's head of operations in India) is "optimistic the government will allow our team of doctors to get to the outlying islands and administer medical care." Oxfam's supplies are also impounded, in fact no NGO has received permission from the Indian Government to conduct relief operations in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and especially not in the Indigenous Reserves.

The security and secrecy of the Indian military base at Cap Nicobar takes precidence.

So what is the Andoman and Nicobar Command?

The Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), with its HQ at Port Blair, is commanded by Lieutenant General Aditya Singh of the Indian Army who reports directly to Vice Admiral Raman Puri, who is the CISC (Chief of Integrated Service Command) in New Delhi. Rear Admiral Rakesh Kala serves as the Chief of Staff of the ANC and reports directly to Lieutenant General Aditya Singh. The ANC, which became operational on 08 October 2001, is an operational unified tri-command which is being used to monitor & counter military and terrorist activities in the Bay of Bengal and the adjoining waters. Lying 1,190 km east of Chennai (Madras), the ANC is also viewed as countering Chinese monitoring centers in Myanmar (Burma). Although operational, constructing & equipping the base will take longer. Command of the ANC will rotate among the three services.

The flotilla at the ANC consists of four Trinkat Class fast patrol vessels, eight Mk.3 LCU vessels, a few Polnochny-C/D Class amphibious warfare vessels and the SDB Mk.3 large patrol craft. Do-228-101 maritime patrol craft, operating from airfields at Port Blair, Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay and Diglipur maintain surveillance over the sea areas and approaches. CGAS 745, consisting of Do-228s, operate from Port Blair. The army presence consists of an infantry brigade, which plans to increase its strength to a full division. The No.122 Helicopter Unit (Mi-8s) operates from Car Nicobar and is the air force presence at the ANC. Eventually a fighter squadron will also be based here, thereby increasing the ANC's strike capability.

• INS Jarawa, located at Port Blair, has limited support facilities including a floating dock.

• INHS Dhanvantari, located at Port Blair, is a Naval Hospital.

• INS Kardip, located at Nicobar, in an advance base.

So, the short of it is, because the Andamans are remote and the indigenous are, well, colonized by India, its a wicked good spot for an antenna farm, and the defense of India requires some ... small ... sacrifices. It is fortunate that these sacrifices are small and far from India, it wouldn't do if aid to Calcutta or Dehli were embargoed because of the security and secrecy needs of the Indian military.

Indigenously (that is, Indian) built fast attack craft, INS Trinkat, INS Tillanchang, INS Tarasa and INS Tarmugli. All named after Andaman and Nicobar Islands. All stationed at Port Blair. All ensuring that no aid reaches the surviving Andaman and Nicobar Islanders.

Since the economies of North America and Bangalore are intertwined, it is possible to treat dysfunctional Indian militarism with the same recondisder-or-be-replaced message we still have for dysfunctional American militarism. Call your Congress-critter. Put the words "Andaman", "Indigenous", "Tsunami", and "Relief" and the words "Inhumane", "Military" and "Embargo" together in one sentance. Take a breath. Put the words "Outsource", "Jobs", and "Secondary Boycott" together in a second sentance.

If your job was outsourced to India, you made that sacrifice so that the Indian Military could prevent water, food, and medicine from leaving the tarmac at Port Blair. Repeat for every person you know who's job is in Bangalor or who's competitive salery is ... at risk.

Free Trade Zealots who know that progress demands human sacrifice please self-sacrifice now.

Posted by EBW at January 3, 2005 10:16 AM | TrackBack