This man befriended a hostile tribe, which is beleived to have existed for 30,000 - 50,000 yrs and saved them from extinction!
Meet
Dr. Ratan Chandra Kar
🥇Padma Shri 2023| Andaman and Nicobar islands
@narendramodi
#PadmaAwards
@MIB_India
#PadmaShri
Originally from West Bengal, his experience with Konyak tribe in Nagaland helped him get a job in Andaman and Nicobar islands as a health officer.
In 1998, a measles like disease hit the Jarawa tribe in the village of Kadmatla and Lakhralungta of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The Jarawa tribe was known to shoot strangers with poison arrows at sight but it didn't deter Dr. Kar.
He not only introduced himself with gifts,coconuts n bananas but made door to door visits to befriend them.
The first day,he entered a hut n put ointment on an injured tribal.
The next day he noticed a change in their behavior.
The epidemic was turning into an endemic
Dr. Kar showed respect to their medical knowledge n used them as supplements
He learnt their language n got accustomed to their traditional habits n customs.
He wrote 2 books on them.
It's easy to walk away from a hostile tribe n ascribe a natural cause for its extinction
But it takes a dutiful n compassionate man like Dr. Kar to realize the worth of a rare tribe n their right to exist.
The Jarawa tribe still remembers him
Dr. Ratan Chandra Kar
🥇Padma Shri
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