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Relatively cut off from the outer world and isolated, they
were in steep poverty. Those whose resource base could not
provide them with the basic needs had to resort to raiding
adjoining communities and occasionally even the accessible
settled pockets. No wonder, some of them who frequently
resorted to thefts and robberies found such activities more
fruitful than hunting, gathering and extracting from the fast
shrinking resource base. New generations came to acquire
greater skill in such activities, disliked, hated and detested
by the non-tribal communities.
These
ignorant, superstitious and socially backward communities were
hard to be tamed, especially by the then British rulers. For
obvious reasons the internecine warfare and other allied acts
made them loot, plunder and murder. Because of these traits,
they came to acquire notoriety and were declared as criminal
tribes. To face their raids, to counter their raids and to
bring them to book nearly 150 of these tribes were notified as
criminal tribes. And to control them as also to punish them,
the British administration passed the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA)
in 1871. The act gave wide powers to the police to arrest the
members and monitor their movement.
The book
under reference by a media man turned research scholar, who
under a fellowship granted by National Foundation for India,
took himself to relatively remote and inaccessible areas and
city slums in Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa where most of the 150 so-called
criminal tribal groups either live as nomads or lead a
miserable life. The work is primarily based on his field study
and keen observation of the socio-economic characteristics of
these deprived sons and daughters of India.
Once labelled
as criminals, the tag continues and the people continue to
carry the same prejudices and false notions which the British
had created. The prejudice creeps not only into individuals
but also social groups. However, it is the poor, marginal and
deprived social groups who are worst affected and are at the
receiving end. Their marginality results from racial, ethnic,
social, linguistic, and cultural discrimination. Although
"prejudice is a common human instinct yet state-sponsored
prejudice can spell disaster for humanity". This is the
hypothesis of the author who successfully corroborates it
through case studies of certain groups and certain locations.
After India
became free statesmen and Constitution framers thought of
bringing all such groups out of the entrenched prejudice and
to develop them socially and economically, so that they could
enjoy the constitutional right of equality. Nonetheless, it
took them half a decade to repeal the CTA, 1871, and its two
concomitant Acts — Habitual Offenders Act (HOA) and Habitual
Offenders Restrictions Act (HORA) in 1952. Now instead of
criminal tribes, they are called as Denotified Tribes or DNTs.
Gandhi used the word harijans for the untouchables to avoid
the use of Chamar, doms, etc. which had acquired derogatory
and hateful nuances.
The fact is
that the change of name has not erased the stigma. These
ex-criminals continue to be identified, treated and persecuted
as born criminals not only by individual groups but by society
at large. Even in police records, despite orders to the
contrary, they remain criminals. If there is any criminal act,
the DNTs of the nearest settlement are suspected. Not only
they are arrested without any warrant and detained but beaten
up and tortured to obtain a confession.
The author
has given the example of the Pardhis, Bouris, Banjanias,
Bazigars, Hur, Kale, Kheria Sabar, Ramoshis, Budhan Sabar,
Sansis and Vagharis to support his hypothesis. He has cited
cases where some DNT personnel, suspected to be behind some
crime, died of police torture but prosecution could not prove
the case. In quoted instances where protests and agitations
led to the establishment of enquiry commissions which proved
the deceased as innocent on whom fabricated charges had been
foisted by some police personnel because of political pressure
and other influence. The indicted policemen were never awarded
punishment nor are such enquires deterrents against similar
further occurrence, which continue in different parts of the
country.
Which
community or social group is without its criminals, offenders
and law breakers? There are some notorious elements among DNTs,
but it is highly unconstitutional on the part of society and,
more so, on the part of the police to treat every member of
DNT as criminal without any evidence. It was not as though
only the British rulers ill-treated and maltreated them. The
police, the administration and the public at large continue
the century-old treatment. In some cases they have been pushed
out of the land which was granted to them by the erstwhile
native princes on compassionate grounds.
In almost all
cities where they occupy the peripheral areas, their hamlets
have been bulldozed to make room for multi-storeyed flats. At
certain places the water levy has been exorbitantly raised for
them whereas they are provided only one tap where their
children and women queue up for hours daily in the morning and
evening when during the dry season and restricted supply hours
the water just trickles. In some cases the DNT children are
not granted admission in schools while in certain cases, when
some promising DNT children showed better performance, they
were forced to drop out since children of other social groups
refused to sit with them in the class.
In
overwhelming cases promising and educated DNT youngmen are
denied jobs since they carry criminal antecedents because of
their tribes. Almost in all cases of widows of persons killed
in fake police encounters, they were neither given any
compensation nor rehabilitated by any agency. Even in cases
where courts ordered compensation the authorities denied
payments on one pretext or the other or connived with the
police or revenue authorities to implicate the helpless widows
in false cases.
All these
cases with names and locations have been detailed in the book.
In courts they are exploited by lawyers and lower officials.
In many cases reported to the author, the victims produced
crumpled documents wherein some social welfare agency had
extended them some help, for which they continue to wait for
years. Thank God, under such taxing and oppressive conditions,
only a handful of members indulge in petty robberies and
thefts.
A few cases
of educated and well settled DNT members have been cited where
patronisation, sympathetic attitude and due respect in
treating them as normal human beings, have brought a sea
change. One such case is of Avinash (original name Mayur) a
B.A., B.Ed teacher working in a school getting a monthly
salary of Rs 4,317 in Dahivadi (Gujarat). He lives in a small
house with a TV and electricity, which is kept quite clean. He
has two sons and was planning to get himself sterilised. He is
respected as a hard working, upright, sympathetic and
disciplined teacher, who is loved by his non-DNT students.
He told the
author that he owed every thing to his school teacher Sharda
Shinde who sympathetically treated him and encouraged him to
be a proud and honest citizen of free India. Thus it was
"real education" coupled with sympathy and
encouragement which has turned a promising youth to become a
useful citizen and thus contribute his mite to social
advancement. "One teacher who was woman enough to look
past stereotypical attitude. And that faith has produced a
fine youngman".
It is less their
poverty and misery that marks DNTs out than the prejudice they
must live with. "... an India that chooses to overlook its
most unfortunate citizens, an India riven by prejudice and
hatred is an India heading for calamity". The text closes
with a thought of Harry Stein: "This wonderous American
idea that here/there truly are no limits, and birth need not be
destiny." Now why should that not be an Indian idea too?
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