Killing of US missionary John Chau: How the US media missed the most crucial point
The Indian government has respected their need for
For many of us who have stayed in the USA, we'd be able to picture this: Imagine you are a black man living in Texas. Will you land up at a white man's house without invitation, and that too, at a time when he is least expecting you?
Will you?
Yes. Neither would I.
In a country which is grappling with increasing numbers of horrific crimes and gun violence, knocking on an unknown person's door in the wee hours of the night is perhaps not a good idea — unless you are ready to die. In many US states like Texas or New Mexico, it won't be too surprising if the resident pulls out a gun and asks you to leave his porch immediately. Instances of shooting at intruders are as common as a neighbourhood gun store selling advanced assault rifles. Such shootings are usually explained by the US' attachment to principles such as the right to carry weapons and safeguard one's space.
But being an American, evangelist Jon Allen Chau disrespected this simple American code and thought it was okay to land up on the island of the Sentinelese people without an invitation. Chau repeatedly visited the islands even when the islanders had made it very clear that they don't want to interact with him. In one of his documented earlier visits, they had shot an arrow at him that pierced his waterproof Bible which he was holding close to his body. Yet, after the numerous attempts to interact with them failed, he still thought it was fine to land up there with a smiling face, armed with the words, "Jesus Loves You".
The islanders reportedly finally took him hostage and killed him. The Indian authorities are trying to retrieve his body but they have not been successful so far.
But instead of condemning him for "invading" the islanders' space with a Bible in hand, the media in the USA are overwhelmingly sympathetic towards John. I am yet to come across one mainstream media group in the USA which has unequivocally condemned John for making an attempt to convert the islanders to Christianity against the wishes of the tribe. What most of the media organisations in the US are trying to portray is that he died in the line of his duty for God.
For example, a CNN anchor was wondering what "compelled" John to venture into a "dangerous, far-flung places" in his passion to preach Christianity.
One of the Christian groups in the USA also demanded that murder charges should be brought upon the Sentinelese people for killing John.
Others like the New York Times, have blandly reported how John was killed by an "isolated tribe with bows and arrows". Some newspapers have reported how the Islanders are "untouched by civilisation" and John was greeted by a hail of arrows as he kept proudly preaching.
But very few articles have gone beyond the incident and tried to decode why the Sentinelese behaved so way and what might be the story behind it.
We all know that in pre-historic times, history was handed down from one generation to the other in the form of stories. Even today, many aboriginal tribes across the world don't have any written history. They have their history passed down from father to son through stories and mythology. This is one form of preserving history that has remained constant since mankind was born. If we assume that the Sentinelese people have preserved their history in the same manner as other tribes have, then you possibly have an answer as to why they are so hostile to outsiders.
In 1880, a British Naval Officer called Maurice Vidal Portman entered the island and kidnapped six members of the tribe — an elderly couple and four children. The couple soon died because they didn't have immunity from known diseases, but the children survived.
Many months later, the children were returned to the island.
But there is a considerable controversy as to what had been done to the children while they were in captivity, given the officer’s obsession with photographing the aboriginal Indian tribes.
Now, if you are a member of the tribe and this story has been passed onto you for generations, even you will fiercely guard your territory from foreign white men.
Also, Officer Portman is not the only one who invaded the island — there are several others who have been close to the tribe and couldn't figure out their pre-historic way of life. The first recorded anthropologist to land on the island was TN Pandit, who ventured in but couldn't go beyond recording his first impressions. He has expressed surprise at the killing of John, saying that the Sentinelese people warn intruders and don't kill instantly.
According to recorded history, there was another case of a convict trying to escape into the island, and at least one case of a ship running aground near it. The convict was brutally killed by arrows while the people of the island took over the ship as it was abandoned there. The crew of the ship called The Primrose were evacuated by air. They too recorded how fierce and unfriendly the Sentinelese were.
However, the kidnappings and violence may be the sole reason why the Sentinelese people have indeed grown to be so hostile to outsiders, much like another ancient tribe of the Andamans called Jarawa, who still violently resist outsiders stepping into their territory.
These documented instances are a reason why the tribe has been kept isolated and the Indian government too has decided that they should be left alone.
The reasons why we should leave the tribe alone in their territory is a matter of common sense. They are probably the oldest surviving tribe in the world and need to be preserved. They have an isolated existence and hence do not have the immunity against the simplest of diseases that modern civilisation has brought upon us (like a flu, for instance). They are a very small community and their numbers are estimated at just 150 to 200.
The Indian government has respected their need for "privacy" and has time and again issued circulars asking foreign tourists not to venture near these islands. The government doesn't issue permits to anybody who wants to visit the island.
The American media — which aggressively talks about civil rights, right to privacy and free will — seemingly couldn't care less about the will of the Sentinelese who clearly did not want John Chau on their island. Rather, what most of them seem to care about is the "murder" of John Chau, and how he was brutally shot with a volley of arrows as he preached the name of his God.