INDIA'S CRIMINAL TRIBES.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1922, Page 4

INDIA'S CRIMINAL TRIBES.

(By Horace Wyndham)

The Moplahs, who are largely responsible for the recent serious dis-1 turbances in the Malabar district form j one of the admitted criminal tribes of ]ndia. There are a number of these officially recognised criminal tribes established in different parts of the country. They are close corporations, and membership is to a great extent hereditary. India, indeed, is a land of heredity. If a man there is a coolie, or a bottle-washer, or a labourer, or anything of the sort, immemorial custom requires that bis progeny shall follow in his footsteps. To adopt another colling would be considered an unfilial act. Hence, when a man is a professional thief, the family tradition is observed in just the same fashion. SECRET CODES AND PASSWORDS. The criminal tribes of India number many thousands of adherents. In addition to the Moplahs, these bodies ini elude the Yarukalas, Kaikadis, Bats, and Sansais, etc. Although they speak different languages and are separated i from one another by vast distances, ! they all have •omrnon passwords, ! s ign S) and codes, by which they can rej veal themselves to other bands. Membership is thus a sort of freemasonry. ‘ Perhaps it sounds a little odd, but the criminal tribes are, notwithstanding their deeds of violence, intensely i religious. They would not, for example ’ dream of committing a robbery without first 'praying in a temple and propitiating their special deities with the sacri-

fice of a fowl or a goat, i When a successful raid has been accomplished they give a handsome share of the booty to their priests. They “work” moreover, on a commonwealth basis. Thus two shares of the i proceeds of a marauding expedition go to the leader and the rest is divided equally. If a member falls into the , hands of the police his wife gets a | share; and if be lie killed provision is I made for bis widow and family.

i SUPERSTITIONS OBSERVANCES, i A point in common among the erimj iual tribes is that they are all exi tremely superstitious. They will do i nothing without first consulting om- ! ons; and if these be unfavourable a

! projected enterprise is summarily j abandoned. Of course it often hapj pens that the omens go astray, and j predict victory wlthe result is de- | feat. There is, however, a simple enough explanation for such disaster. ■ ' ■ is not, ns might be thought, that the | . '.stem has broken down, but that tho i “evil eye” lias worked a spell.

When marauding bawd cannot quite make up their minds whore to operate their practice is to kill a fowl

■ and toss the body "ii the ground. Kor , a moment or twin the dismembered 1 ! cad will quiver. The point of the compass at which it finally comes to :. a is considered to indicate the fiirec- ■' ..ii where they should start. Here, ■.. tin, the “evil eye” theory comes in usefully, when, following this path, the band runs into a police ambush. The women members of the criminal t ibes are employed by their lords and masters to spy out bouses which promise to furnish a good “haul.” Very , often they pose as domestic servants, and improve their position by taking liberties with door and window fastenings. The children, too, are systematically trained from their earliest years to pick pockets and steal fowls. Then, when considered old enough and sufficiently expert, they are recruited into the ranks of dacoity as a matter in course. CRIMINAL COLONIES'. The Government of India recognises its responsibilities in this matter, and lias for years past made a very determined attempt to tackle the problem of dealing v.-ith the criminal tribes. Realising that such large and scattered sections of the community cannot he stamped out or repressed by force, it has adopted the wiser amt more humane practice of endeavouring t; reclaim them,from their vicious tendencies. The simplest method is L::-s ef segregation. As an experimental measure, a suitable tract of ground was, about seven years ago, put aside at Stuartpuran, in the Madras Presidency, and a colony established there for the recep*ion of professed thieves. The occupants were taught various forms of industry, encouraged to profit by the fruits of honest labour, and thus gradually weaned from their evil courses. At first failures occurred. This, .however, was natural enough, for an initial difficulty in inculcating honesty among such people is that their peculiar form of “religion” is absolutely opposed to anything of the sort. They hold, indeed, the awkward theory that they were created for the special purpose of stealing, and regard any interference therewith as impious and unjustifiable Still, the pioneers of the reclamation system were not discouraged. They persevered; and eventually mot with such success that the imagination of official India was fired.

Since the new plan answered in Madras, it should, they reasoned, work well elsewhere. Accordingly, and under the provisions of the “Criminal Tribes Act of 1911,” similar settlements were established in other parts of the country. The result is they are now to be found, not only in Madras, but also in Bombay, Bengal, the United Provinces, and the Punjab, etc.

A humber of these settlements are administered by the officials of the Salvation Army and other religious and philanthropic bodies, in co-operation with the local police authorities. One such colony contains 1800 persons, from dacoits and highway robbers down to mere sheep-stealers, divided into three separate groups, according to their degree of criminality. Thus, the “reformed gfoup” consists of 150, the “partly reformed” of 350, and the “unreformed” of 1150. Of course the fundamental idea is to qualify the third group for admittance to the first one. Accordingly the settlers are all carefully watched, and promoted or degraded as occasion requires. Should misconduct be serious the offender is transferred to prison. On the whole, however, there is very little misconduct beyond absconding.

The settlers are not permitted to he idle. They have to perform productive work, but they are paid for their labour on the same scale as if it were voluntary. With a view to removing still further any prison suggestion, the average settlement has neither walls per police. They are really unneces-

j sary, for if <lll inmate nirts «iway lie is | certain to be arrested,.since he.has no j pass. The occupants are also accom- j panied by their wives and families. I Opinions as to the wisdom of permitting young children to remain with their parents under these conditions are somewhat sharply divided. Tt is generally felt, however, that the educational and reformatory influences to which they are thus subjected will he productive of good results. A WIDE REACHING ACT. Tho provisions of the “Criminal Tribes Act” are very wide. It rests entirely with the local, police whether all the members of a criminal tribe, or only portion thereof, shall he committed to a settlement, and also toi how long. This, as may be imagined (Indian officialdom in the lower grades being what it is) lias led to a good deal of blackmail. There have been many proved instances, too, of a subordinate who has a grudge against a neighbour, or an intrigue with his Wife, | procuring his deportment on the ground that lie is an habitual criminal. Thus, in the last annual return for the Punjab alone, statistics reveal that out of 701 occupants o( the Dhaiiual settlement, only 130 bad been previously convicted. Obviously, too, theie must be an occasional miscarriage ot justice in a system which makes it possible (as does this one) to -rest a man and shut him up for an indefinite period in a criminal colony, without first bringing him to trial on any specific charge. Still, all said done, the system has undoubtedly worked well, and for the protection of society. ■