Details
Colonially Criminalized Tribes Still Languish in India
01-Jul-2019
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Pallavi Borkar
With Exceptional hunting skills the Pardhi migrant tribes, branded as ‘Criminal’ through legal statute by the British in India (denotified by independent India in 1952), not long before accompanied these very foreigners on royal Bengal tiger hunts. Today, they lead destitute lives on the bleak fringes of society. Sadder still is the fact that they bear the cross of the criminal branding in common public perception even today.
The Pardhi men of Aher Vahegaon in Georai Taluka of Beed district, Maharashtra hunt for birds they call ‘Chittar’. They tour the wild terrains riding on cows, blowing whistles, similar in tune to the twitter the birds make to catch the attention of the flight-full prey.
The wooden box apparatus worn on their back comes into play the moment the birds draw near, responding to the whistle calls, and the innovatively designed trap has the birds incarcerated. They sell these birds in the local market and earn Rs 200 to 500. Sometimes, they also hunt rabbits for income.
Cows are considered sacred among the Pardhis. They worship the cow and treat the animal like their own children. They also use cows as a vehicle to travel from place to place. Pardhis were a hunters tribe, and this continues to be an integral part of their socioeconomic lifestyle. The Pardhi were once highly valued for their skills in handling exotic animals and vast knowledge of India’s forests. When the British ruled in India, Pardhis accompanied them for royal tiger hunts. They also trained cheetahs, which they kept as pets and used during hunting expeditions.
The Pardhi community was branded criminals under British law after they rebelled against the Imperial rule. The criminal branding of the tribe goes back to 1871 after the British passed the ‘Criminal Tribes Act’. About 150 tribes were legally deemed as criminal tribes. They were constantly targeted by the police the power who were given unhindered powers arrest them.
One such case is that of a lady named Noor Khaas Bhonsale whose husband died seven years ago in an atrocity case. He was taken into police custody one night for a crime he had not committed. While in jail he was brutally beaten up by the police in order to have him forcefully confess the crime; he was later reported dead in a case of suicide. Noor Khaas ran from pillar to post seeking justice for her husband and the case is still reaching its verdict.
Another case is that of a married young girl who was forcefully taken by the police authorities in the middle of the night accusing her of a theft that took place in another village. She was raped for many days by more than 8 policemen in a hotel room, and shifted to various jails in different parts of Solapur. She was stripped naked and beaten with leather belts and sticks all over her body and especially on her private parts. There are many such brutal cases that need immediate attention and intervention.
After India got its independence, the law was denotified in 1952 by officially abolishing the stigma of the criminal label. But this did not end their misery as the police and people in general continued toexhibit prejudices and look down upon them as born criminals. This led to the marginalisation and social exclusion of the Pardhis. Women and children face the full brunt of the criminalisation process, in terms of institutional and structural violence — poor access to food security, water, education, healthcare, social protection and justice delivery.
On the hunting trail:
70-year-old Chingya Bhonsale, sporting his favourite yellow turban, rides a cow up to a good speed. His sons and nephew follow riding white sturdy cows. These tribesmen ride cows like American cowboys do with even sturdier bulls, but without the frenzied pace and in the wilderness. Unlike the sport, the cows are calmer and obedient, as the riders use a wooden box like apparatus on their back that allows them to guide the animals to run a particular path/direction.
Having finished his hunting ride, Chingya returns to his settlement, empty handed. He says that these days it is very difficult and risky to capture birds because the government has made hunting illegal in India. Nationalisation of forests and wildlife protection has posed an employment problem for the community. Pardhis from Chingya’s village have now resorted to farming, which serves as a source of food for the 14 families living on this pastoral land. Surrounded by lush green fields of cotton, millets like bajra and jowar, and sugarcane they reside in the interiors of the farmland, cast away from the village.
Domesticated animals form an integral part of their economy. Cows, goats, hens and dogs are reared, trained and used by them. Shaina Ganesh Bhonsale, a young mother of 5, is milking the goat to feed her children. She prepares bajra bhakri (bread) on an indigenous stove made of mud, soaks the hot bhakri in the goat’s milk, and feeds it to her toddlers. She explains how these food sources have helped them to survive in the toughest of conditions. “We live without water supply and electricity. Women walk 2 kms to and fro to fetch water from a nearby well owned by the upper caste, who allow us to fill up one handa (water pot) each person or at times none. There’s no water provided for bathing or washing,” she explains. She offers to share some milk and bhakri to eat, with a smile. While their tone of language may not sound cordial but they are in fact generous. Their smiling faces are a sign of hope for survival.
In contrast, to people’s opinion, the Pardhis are welcoming and kind to whoever comes to meet them. They do not have houses, and live under tents made of bamboos, sticks and tarpaulin sheets. Some don’t even have a roof or sheets for shelter, they live in the open. And during the monsoons, families would take shelter under their neighbour’s tents. Lack of awareness on alternative employment has driven Pardhis to an impoverished existence on the fringes of society. As one visits these settlements, you can see the Pardhis look up to you with a sense of hope in deep despair; waiting for a future where they would be treated as equals.
The primordial fear of them being criminals and fierce is mostly the opinion of the police. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, they are most vulnerable to violation of human rights, particularly by the police. The legacy of the Criminal Tribes Act still haunts them. Social attitudes have hardly changed, and if attempts are made to rehabilitate them, the villagers resent and protest against it and even break or burn down the houses Phardis live in.
The state of Pardhis as a marginalised group are functional to the lack of political will to address any of their woes in any efficient manner.
Today, more than 60,000 Pardhis live on the footpaths of Mumbai to earn a livelihood. Parents send their children from different parts of rural Maharashtra to beg or sell gajra (flower garland) on the street. They go back to their village once they have earned enough money, and after the funds are over they come back to the metropolitan city to earn money. They are stuck a in a vicious circle of hardship.”
“Pallavi Borkar
With Exceptional hunting skills the Pardhi migrant tribes, branded as ‘Criminal’ through legal statute by the British in India (denotified by independent India in 1952), not long before accompanied these very foreigners on royal Bengal tiger hunts. Today, they lead destitute lives on the bleak fringes of society. Sadder still is the fact that they bear the cross of the criminal branding in common public perception even today.
The Pardhi men of Aher Vahegaon in Georai Taluka of Beed district, Maharashtra hunt for birds they call ‘Chittar’. They tour the wild terrains riding on cows, blowing whistles, similar in tune to the twitter the birds make to catch the attention of the flight-full prey.
The wooden box apparatus worn on their back comes into play the moment the birds draw near, responding to the whistle calls, and the innovatively designed trap has the birds incarcerated. They sell these birds in the local market and earn Rs 200 to 500. Sometimes, they also hunt rabbits for income.
Cows are considered sacred among the Pardhis. They worship the cow and treat the animal like their own children. They also use cows as a vehicle to travel from place to place. Pardhis were a hunters tribe, and this continues to be an integral part of their socioeconomic lifestyle. The Pardhi were once highly valued for their skills in handling exotic animals and vast knowledge of India’s forests. When the British ruled in India, Pardhis accompanied them for royal tiger hunts. They also trained cheetahs, which they kept as pets and used during hunting expeditions.
The Pardhi community was branded criminals under British law after they rebelled against the Imperial rule. The criminal branding of the tribe goes back to 1871 after the British passed the ‘Criminal Tribes Act’. About 150 tribes were legally deemed as criminal tribes. They were constantly targeted by the police the power who were given unhindered powers arrest them.
One such case is that of a lady named Noor Khaas Bhonsale whose husband died seven years ago in an atrocity case. He was taken into police custody one night for a crime he had not committed. While in jail he was brutally beaten up by the police in order to have him forcefully confess the crime; he was later reported dead in a case of suicide. Noor Khaas ran from pillar to post seeking justice for her husband and the case is still reaching its verdict.
Another case is that of a married young girl who was forcefully taken by the police authorities in the middle of the night accusing her of a theft that took place in another village. She was raped for many days by more than 8 policemen in a hotel room, and shifted to various jails in different parts of Solapur. She was stripped naked and beaten with leather belts and sticks all over her body and especially on her private parts. There are many such brutal cases that need immediate attention and intervention.
After India got its independence, the law was denotified in 1952 by officially abolishing the stigma of the criminal label. But this did not end their misery as the police and people in general continued toexhibit prejudices and look down upon them as born criminals. This led to the marginalisation and social exclusion of the Pardhis. Women and children face the full brunt of the criminalisation process, in terms of institutional and structural violence — poor access to food security, water, education, healthcare, social protection and justice delivery.
On the hunting trail:
70-year-old Chingya Bhonsale, sporting his favourite yellow turban, rides a cow up to a good speed. His sons and nephew follow riding white sturdy cows. These tribesmen ride cows like American cowboys do with even sturdier bulls, but without the frenzied pace and in the wilderness. Unlike the sport, the cows are calmer and obedient, as the riders use a wooden box like apparatus on their back that allows them to guide the animals to run a particular path/direction.
Having finished his hunting ride, Chingya returns to his settlement, empty handed. He says that these days it is very difficult and risky to capture birds because the government has made hunting illegal in India. Nationalisation of forests and wildlife protection has posed an employment problem for the community. Pardhis from Chingya’s village have now resorted to farming, which serves as a source of food for the 14 families living on this pastoral land. Surrounded by lush green fields of cotton, millets like bajra and jowar, and sugarcane they reside in the interiors of the farmland, cast away from the village.
Domesticated animals form an integral part of their economy. Cows, goats, hens and dogs are reared, trained and used by them. Shaina Ganesh Bhonsale, a young mother of 5, is milking the goat to feed her children. She prepares bajra bhakri (bread) on an indigenous stove made of mud, soaks the hot bhakri in the goat’s milk, and feeds it to her toddlers. She explains how these food sources have helped them to survive in the toughest of conditions. “We live without water supply and electricity. Women walk 2 kms to and fro to fetch water from a nearby well owned by the upper caste, who allow us to fill up one handa (water pot) each person or at times none. There’s no water provided for bathing or washing,” she explains. She offers to share some milk and bhakri to eat, with a smile. While their tone of language may not sound cordial but they are in fact generous. Their smiling faces are a sign of hope for survival.
In contrast, to people’s opinion, the Pardhis are welcoming and kind to whoever comes to meet them. They do not have houses, and live under tents made of bamboos, sticks and tarpaulin sheets. Some don’t even have a roof or sheets for shelter, they live in the open. And during the monsoons, families would take shelter under their neighbour’s tents. Lack of awareness on alternative employment has driven Pardhis to an impoverished existence on the fringes of society. As one visits these settlements, you can see the Pardhis look up to you with a sense of hope in deep despair; waiting for a future where they would be treated as equals.
The primordial fear of them being criminals and fierce is mostly the opinion of the police. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, they are most vulnerable to violation of human rights, particularly by the police. The legacy of the Criminal Tribes Act still haunts them. Social attitudes have hardly changed, and if attempts are made to rehabilitate them, the villagers resent and protest against it and even break or burn down the houses Phardis live in.
The state of Pardhis as a marginalised group are functional to the lack of political will to address any of their woes in any efficient manner.
Today, more than 60,000 Pardhis live on the footpaths of Mumbai to earn a livelihood. Parents send their children from different parts of rural Maharashtra to beg or sell gajra (flower garland) on the street. They go back to their village once they have earned enough money, and after the funds are over they come back to the metropolitan city to earn money. They are stuck a in a vicious circle of hardship.”
