MP tells cops to put Pardhis, Kanjars under scanner
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COMMENTS 
Nearly six decades after they were denotified as criminal tribes, Pardhis and Kanjars are still treated as criminals by the authorities in Madhya Pradesh
The Madhya Pradesh government last week told police officers in districts affected by “criminal activities of Pardhis and Kanjars” to come up with a long-lasting solution to the “problem”. A meeting attended by officers from 12 districts (nearly one-fourth of the state), on May 6, 2010, resolved to keep a strict vigil on Pardhi and Kanjar settlements and prepare a detailed database of criminal elements that would be shared with all 50 districts in the state as well as with other states.
This meeting between the state government and police officers has alarmed local activists. Ex-chairman of the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, Balkrishna Renke, said branding communities as criminal was a criminal act in itself.
“No doubt some of them indulge in criminal activities, but labelling the entire community as criminals will drive to crime even those who have never violated the law,” Renke said. “If they are made objects of hatred and forced to live on the edge, they will never assimilate with society and will probably take to crime to feed themselves.”
Renke alleged that it was common for the police to pick up innocent Pardhis when they were under pressure to solve crimes. Anurag Modi of Shramik Adivasi Sangathan noted that the police did not hold such meetings for organised criminal gangs. He said there had been over a dozen instances of serious crime in Betul district in the last couple of years, but none involved a member of the Pardhi community.
The Pardhis have been moving from relief camp to relief camp since 2007, when they were driven out of their homes in Chothai village, Betul district. They have not been allowed to return to their village. The Betul administration alleges that tribe members are not ready to work under the employment guarantee scheme and want to be “fed without doing anything”.
A senior police officer who attended the meeting said: “The Pardhis have a propensity for easy money. Several professional crimes have been traced to the community, and they keep moving from one place to another.
“Home Minister Umashankar Gupta called for a “strong-willed joint effort to eradicate the problem”. In addition to dealing firmly with criminal elements, efforts should be made to rehabilitate them and change their mindset, Gupta said. The government hopes to receive cooperation from educated youth in the communities to create awareness about education, he added.
Source: The Indian Express, May 10, 2010