Abstract
ABSTRACT The British enacted the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871 to control Indian society after the rebellion against colonial rule in 1857. By means of the Act, the British depicted entire communities and groups as hereditary criminals – without any substantive legal or incriminating evidence – using the concept of race, used in anthropology and anthropometry, and of caste. They termed the groups ‘tribes’ instead of ‘castes’ to evoke qualities of wildness and savagery in a way that the term ‘caste’ could not. The British also used the Act to term the tribes ‘criminal’. In ascribing criminality, they misinterpreted texts, folklore and proverbs, and they relied on the biased advice of upper caste elite native informants. This systematic sociopolitical and legal subjugation stigmatized, ostracized and impoverished many so-called lower-caste and tribal communities. Even 75 years after Independence and denotification of the ‘criminal’ status, these communities remain outcastes. This paper traces the making of the category of ‘criminal tribe’ in colonial times – by charting the discourses, practices, processes and legal landmarks that led to the enactment, subsequent amendments and, finally, repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 – and its afterlife in postcolonial India. The paper argues that although the category of ‘criminal caste’ did exist before colonial times, the British colonialists applied the category of ‘tribe’ to the criminal castes for rhetorical and administrative purposes, and that the socio-legal construction of criminal tribes happened through a concatenation of contradictory notions that made the label of ‘criminal tribe’ a patchwork of mutually untenable discourses.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.