India must scrap the law that tags some tribes as hereditary criminals

Sudhirendar Sharma

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of discussion and debate in India on the fate of the Rohingyas of Myanmar, who are facing State oppression. The NDA government at the Centre has argued that it wants to send the members of this community back to Myanmar because it wants to protect the fundamental rights of Indian citizens. Human rights activists opposed this view, saying that the law is clear on the issue: India cannot deport the Rohingyas.

While we discuss the fate of the Rohingyas, let’s not forget the plight of certain tribes in this country who have been facing persecution since British times. Even under the Indian government, they are oppressed and have never been granted fundamental rights.

Following the 1857 mutiny, 237 castes and tribes were given the criminal-by-birth tag under the ambit of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1931. After Independence, the Indian government replaced this Act with the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952. But far from improving their lives, the new Act only re-stigmatised the marginalised tribes.

Today several variants of ‘criminal’ tribes such as the Pardhis, Kanjars, Ramoshis, and Vanjaris continue to remain outside the reach of affirmative State action. Stripped of their fundamental right to justice, equality, and freedom, these tribes live in fear of the authorities. They are often subjected to headcounts on account of their being considered habitual offenders by the State. Quite often, the members of such tribes become easy replacements for criminals whom the police fail to apprehend.

India is perhaps the only country that continues with this Orientalist notion of tagging tribes as hereditary criminals. The Centre has constituted a National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) to specify the economic interventions required for raising their living standards through asset creation and self-employment opportunities. The panel is expected to submit its final report in 2018.

The National Human Rights Commission has recommended the repeal of the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952. In March 2007, the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said: “The so-called de-notified and nomadic people which are listed for their alleged ‘criminal tendencies’ under the former Criminal Tribes Act (1871), continue to be stigmatised under the Habitual Offenders…,” and asked India to repeal the Habitual Offenders Act and rehabilitate the de-notified and nomadic tribes.

Sadly, there has been no movement on the issue. Since protecting fundamental rights is a moral obligation of the State, classifying all members of a tribe, including the newborn, as criminals is out of consonance with all principles of democracy and justice.

(First published in The Hindustan Times dated Nov 6, 2017), and a detailed version was published in Deccan Herald dated Dec 3, 2017. 

Social status 'denotified'

Vijay Korra
Centre for Economic & Social Studies
Hyderabad

It is estimated that there are about 801 denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes in the country, comprising a population of approximately 13.5 crore people .Of these, 22 tribes are included in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC), 27 in Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 421 tribes, numbering 2.2 crore people, as Other Backward Classes (OBC). Yet a sizeable number of communities (227 tribes consisting nearly 56 lakh people) have not made it to any of the above lists and thus, remain outside the reach of affirmative action. A large number of semi-nomadic tribes are placed in the OBC category. The population of DNTs alone would be around 10 crore.

A study by Vijay Korra* clearly reveals that DNTs of undivided Andhra Pradesh are seriously plagued by poverty, lack of basic amenities, resources like land, and dispossession from legal entitlements such as caste certificates, job cards and ration cards. Therefore, the study suggests that concerned governments must pay attention to the problems of DNTs and thus can make targeted policies and required budgetary allocations for their welfare and overall development.

Source: *Status of Denotified Tribes by Vijay Korra, Economic & Political Weekly, Sep 9, 2017.

Well begun, half done

Rohit Gupta

Having gone through your blog, I must compliment you on the good work you have done among the community. I agree with your assessment of the problems facing the community and the solutions proposed. In fact, we have been able to make significant inroads in last two-three years. As a first case of its kind in Rajasthan, we have trained 40 kanjars for security guard in police training school in Jhalwar. Some of these security guards have been deployed in local private enterprises, district hospital etc, giving the community much needed entry into mainstream and social recognition. We also recognized that poor education was keeping most of the kanjar youths unemployed. We therefore held three month classes this year in local police thana. 48 kanjar youths have passed class eighth exam as a result this year, some of whom had dropped out of schools 15 years ago. We now are trying to arrange for driving lessons, so that they can obtain the license and get employment as drivers in the local mining industry.

Rohit Gupta, IAS 

District Collector,

Jhalawar, Rajasthan

Task Ahead

Some tribes are `criminal' because a `dated law' defines them to be so, although there might be other groups who may be more consistent in their criminal behaviour. The questions which must be addressed are:

1. Is their a need to redefine their social `identity' to erase the colonial legacy?
2. Are well-entrenched social and administrative prejudices acting as a bottleneck?
3. Can economic development alone prove to be the precursor to their mainstreaming?
4. Are there policy imperatives that can enhance the impact of development engagements?
5. What significant approaches have been adopted elsewhere in the work with criminal tribes?
6. Should not the legislation be revisited in light of the changing situation?

Could certain communities be allowed to live with a social stigma, generation after generation, in an independent country? Could there right for dignified existence not be restored?

A New Beginning

As it moves into its second phase, and an ambitious one, the focus of the Kanjar Project would shift to the following:

1. Grouping and Networking: Kanjar need to be grouped together as a `community' by forging alliances between desparate groups (dera) Each of such groups need to network between themselves to share common lineage and concerns.

2. Lobbying and Advocacy: Organising the kanjar into groups and mobilising them to stake their rightful existence is critical. The community ought to exert its stakes into `welfare programs' of the state by demanding a `Kanjar Development Fund'.

3. Reforming and Recognising: The legal provisions that have continued to stigmatise the community would need to reformed such that the kanjar get rightful recognition as a society.

Under each of these categories, a set of actions with a timeline would need to be developed to make a lasting impact on the lives of the kanjars. De-stigmatisation and search for alternate livelihoods options would ned to be concurrently pursued to uplift the community from the current abyss.

Kanjar Girl Rescued

For 16-year-old Jayanti, a girl from Kanjar tribe of Bhilwara, life has been a nightmare after she was allegedly sold to traffickers by her family and thereafter she was taken to a brothel in Nagpur.

After four months in Nagpur, she has been rescued by joint team of Rajasthan and Maharashtra police and is at present lodged in a reform centre. Nagpur police is investigating the case and she would be allowed to leave for Bhilwara only after a court order.

According to the police, father of the girl and a resident of Hanuman Nagar area in Bhilwara, Laxman Kanjar allegedly sold his daughter to Ishari Dhanawat and Jagmohan Chari for around Rs 5 lakh in front of few villagers. Dhanawat is learnt to have offered Rs 2.50 lakh as an advance to Kanjar nearly four months ago....more

The Times of India, Feb 11, 2010

First Year Lesson

In the year that has gone by (till Nov 2010), diversity of activities were conducted to not only understand the socio-cultural profile of kanjar but to test the impact of the interventions on the life and livelihoods of the stigmatized community in Jhalawar. The activities could be grouped under the following:

Social - group formation, constituting dera committee, children education

Technical - provision of drinking water, well deepening, goatry development, distribution of quality seeds and provision of fish nets

Capacity Building - exposure visits, skill training (electrical, mechanical and carpentary training and a stitching centre.

Needless to say, all the activities listed above could tinker the livelihoods of the kanjar at the periphery without making significant impact on uplifting their social status. However, it has helped build a positive rapport with the marginalised community that can help move to the next stage of engagement with them. The essential lessons emerging from the yearlong engagement have been:

1. The need for a programmatic approach to kanjar livelihoods improvement through convergence of existing welfare programs/schemes into a `Kanjar Development Fund' at the State and at the District level.

2. Need to sensitize the police force and the district administrative machinery to show greater empathy towards the tribe. Sustained interaction with the community is critical for building confidence towards the law enforcement agencies.

3. Review of the Habitual Offenders Act and its implications. A policy dialogue on the subject for amending the act, that may have outlived its relevance, can play an important role in mainstreaming the community.

With the Government of Rajasthan having shown sustained interest and commitment towards the initiative, a second phase of the Kanjar Livelihood Improvement Project is being designed to address the essential lessons of the pilot initiative. The Rajasthan Mission on Skill and Livelihoods (RMoL) has been supportive towards developing a long-term proposal (beginning Jan 2011) for Kanjar Upliftment.