A lookout notice will soon be issued against two French filmmakers who allegedly trespassed into the protected Jarawa tribal reserve and secretly filmed a documentary on the threatened aboriginal tribe in the Andaman Islands, officials said.
“We are cross-checking records of their arrival in India with the immigration office. Once we have the exact dates we will send a lookout notice against them through the Ministry of External Affairs,” North and Middle Andaman SP Santosh Kumar Meena told PTI from Port Blair.
Last week an FIR was filed against French director Alexandre Dereims and producer Claire Beilvert under various Sections of the Protection of the Aboriginal Tribes (Amendment) Act 2012 and the Foreigners (Amendment) Act 2004.
Police have arrested two locals of the Karen community and are looking for two others who helped the filmmakers meet Jarawas.
The filmmakers had uploaded details and photographs on a website and a Facebook page but these were removed after they were sent a notice by the Union Territory administration asking them to restrain from releasing any visual related to the Jarawas.
Extremely vulnerable to diseases, the 400-strong Jarawas live as nomadic hunter-gatherers and till as recent as 1998 they had hardly any contact with the outside world.
“Making any contact or shooting photos, videos with them are illegal. The filmmakers have violated the law of the land and will have to face trial as per law once we are able to catch hold of them,” the SP said.
Andaman and Nicobar’s Tribal Welfare Secretary Theva Neethi Dhas said the Jarawas had also confirmed that two foreigners and a translator had visited them during March-April.
Members of the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) are authorised by the administration to talk to the Jarawas who can speak in their native language only.
In post-production stage now, the film ‘Organic’ is about Utchu, a two-year-old Jarawa boy, his family and friends.
