I read Pankaj Sekhsaria’s “Disaster as a Catalyst for Military Expansionism: The Case of the Nicobar Islands” (EPW, 3 January 2015) with interest. Throughout, Sekhsaria poses interesting questions and proffers a cohesive analysis of the raison d´état by interlinking incidents (jigsaws) in the Nicobar Islands spanning nearly a decade since the tsunami in 2004. My response to Sekhsaria zeroes in on Central Nicobar, especially the land dispute between the INS Kardip and the Nicobarese which the author touched upon. I also attempt to answer, however only partly, the seminal question raised by him while concluding the article.

September 2014/Kamorta