Dr.Dinesh
Continued from Nicobar Diary part-10
(Letter to Prime Minister Shri..Jawaharlal Nehru)
FIRST EUROPEAN ASSISTANT COMMISSSIONER
As the former agent or Tehsildar were trustworthy the Nicobarese made complaint to the administration to appoint European officers.
Mr.Hart was the first European Assistant Commissioner of the Nicobars. He was a headmaster of the school in Mandalay, where John Richardson was his pupil from 1905 -1911. He was spared by the bishop of Rangoon, who was requested by the administration to look for a man to fill the post.
He came to Car Nicobar in 1928. But he was not a stranger, for he paid a visit to Car Nicobar in 1908 on holiday.
In 1930 complaints were received from Nancowrie about the bad behavior of the Tehsildar. He was deputed by the administration to enquire about the complaint and spent a month at the head quarter at Camorta. When he returned to Car Nicobar as the result of enquiry, the Tehsildar was dismissed from his post. The people of Nancowrie were very pleased about the decision of the Government.
After his return from Nancowrie, he was infected with malaria and was very ill. There was a ship ready loaded with copra lying at anchor. He did not know about it. John Richardson issued the port clearance of the ship to Moulmein, a port in Burma and an urgent telegram to the captain, instructed him to dispatch it as soon as he reaches port. There was no wireless communication at the time.
The ship, with favourable wind reached her destination in 4 days. The telegram was dispatched at once, and received at Port Blair by midnight. Immediately the Chief Commissioner sent the station steamer with two doctors. She reached Car Nicobar the next day at 10 a.m. he was not told that a ship was coming with two doctors to remove him to Port Blair. He was surprised when he was removed in stretcher to the ship and was at Port Blair Hospital the next morning.
After his recovery he was given a year home leave and john Richardson was instructed to act for him as Assistant Commissioner Nicobar. A year leave he returned to Car Nicobar and resumed his work. In January 1931, there was a riot in Perka village with traders. Mr. Hart was at Port Blair for Christmas and New Year, and John Richardson was left in charge as usual for weeks.
CAUSE OF RIOT
A Nicobarese came drunk in a shop of Minicoyan and sat in the chair uninvited, with his naked body in his loin cloth. This has polluted place of Muslim. He gave the Nicobarese a good slaps on the face and several blows as well as pushed him out of his shop.
Unfortunately, the Nicobarese was a son-in-law of a great influential headman of Perka village. He went away quietly and told his father-in-law, who at once gave order that men and boys get coconut leaves torches and set all the shop on fire at Malacca, (there were no shops at Perka). From perka village with lines of torchlights were proceeding to Malacca and all 50 shops in flames in no time. By the time the news reaches me at 8 pm all shops were reduced to cinders. I was warned by some of leading traders not to go there that night, as the tempers of the crowds were still very hot, and there nothing to save. All live goats and cattle’s were burnt in their sheds and were lying dead in their places.
I had with me one Burmese peon. One carpenter and two malis. There was no police guards at the times. I called them next morning and went to the scene at Malacca village. I met headman Kokali and asked him what had happened. I told they have made a great mistake by not informing the administration at first. He said that a trader severely beat his son-in-law and gave him many blows with close fists and it was right that we have retaliated. I thought it was no good of enquiring with him he was in such a mood. After inspecting the extension of the damages. Not a hope was left standing. All were in ashes. I could not do anything; there was no means of sending message to Port Blair, as wireless station was not installed at the Nicobars. We returned to Mus, our head quarter.
A few days after Mr. E. Hart the A.C.N arrived. I boarded the ship at once and informed him what had happened. He communicated to Port Blair and the ship went back at once. In the evening I took Mr.E.Hart to the scene of the riot and back to Mus again.
After two days the ship returned to Car Nicobar at 9 p.m with the police superintendent and 80 police force. They landed quietly. They marched from Sawai bay and 40 party of police were dropped at the school house, and the other 40 with the superintendent proceeding to the government house. Mr. Hart came to wake me and told me to take the 40 police and meeting them on the road by a well at Mus. My party arrived first at the rendezvous. There we held a council. I was to take my party on the jungle side of the road at Perka village while the other take the beach side of the road.
Our next stop was between Big Lapathi and Tapoiming villages for 10 minutes. The last stop was near Tamaloo village, which is next to Perka. When we reached Perka, we parted. At every house a headman was arrested. In the morning, we met at Malacca village where the steamer was to come and pick up the officers and captives. The headman Kokali was among the arrested. The ship arrived at 9 a.m from Sawai Bay, took the officers and prisoners to Port Blair, we made our way back again to Mus village.
After the enquiry of the case, the perk people were fined one lakh pairs of coconuts and the headman to undergo punishment also. In few months, half a lakh pairs of coconuts was collected by traders as compensation. The traders were not free from fault. The man who hit the Nicobarese was asked to deposit his trading license.
By the time the leader of the Mincoyan community came from his Island. He told his own people that they were also in the wrong, so the half a lakh pairs of coconuts already paid was sufficient enough for compensation and the other half was exempted. The decision settled the case out of court and Minicoyan and Niocbarese became friends again. The headman were released after a years simple imprisonment.
The Perk villagers are noted for their hot head. They have murdered a party of Burma’s some years before, and a Nicobarese woman of the same village, also escaped from being murdered with the burmese and sailed away in a ship to Moulmein, where she embraced Buddhism and became nun.
- Ex- Dental Surgeon of Government Civil Hospital (now known as Bishop John Richardson Hospital), Car Nicobar under Directorate of Health Services A & N Administration.
e-mail: dineshdentalclinic@gmail.com
To be continued…………
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