Centre mulls thermal Census of Sentinelese

PORT BLAIR: As the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has started preparations for the upcoming Census 2027, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is mulling various options, including a ‘non-invasive thermal census’ of the Sentinelese, the world’s last pre-Neolithic tribe.

Sentinelese strictly don’t like any outsiders to venture into their territory.

“The Sentinelese tribe lives on North Sentinel Island, and they are isolated for thousands of years. Since the Census will begin, we are also chalking out various ways to do the Census of the Sentinelese as well. One way of doing it is thermal Census. We have not yet come out with the final SOPs, but soon it will be chalked out,” a senior official at the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said.

The North Sentinel Islands and its buffer zone is strictly prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956, and Regulations under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

“They are thought to be directly descended from the first human populations to emerge from Africa, and have probably lived in the Andaman Islands for up to 55,000 years. They resist with bow and arrow when someone from their outside world tries to contact them at Sentinel Island, spread across 14,700 acres,” a senior tribal welfare officer said.

In November 2018, American tourist John Allen Chau was killed by the Sentinelese tribe after he went there illegally on a religious mission.

During the first meeting of the union territory-level Census Coordination Committee, constituted to monitor the exercise, on August 29, Director of Census Operations Purva Garg made a detailed presentation outlining the tentative Census calendar, progress of preparatory work, and the new innovations to be adopted. Chief Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar emphasised the need to pay special attention to enumeration in tribal areas to ensure inclusivity and accuracy.