“Oppressive, savage and criminals: All about the Brahmin caste that hacks and kills”

Yes, we made that headline up. But the incident of a Dalit couple being hacked to death for Rs 15 is true. The accused in the case go by the surname Mishra, but the media has not highlighted either the surname or their caste identity in any way. Neither is their criminal act linked to their caste or community.

Contrast this to the reports that have come in the wake of the grisly Bulandshahr gangrape case. According to a Times of India report, initial investigations by Uttar Pradesh Police hint at the involvement of men from the “Bawaria Tribe” – which TOI says is “known for their ruthless strikes”.

Bawarias are an ethnic, nomadic group that come under the denotified tribes (DNTs).

Three of the accused in the Bulandshahr case — Mohammad Shahvez, Raes Ahmad and Jabar Singh – reportedly have links to a certain gang that goes by the name “Bawaria Gang” and is led by one Samir Bawaria. This is the point at which any responsible journalist would make the distinction between the gang and the community. Not if you’re Big Media. Nuance? So passé.

India Today carried this headline, seemingly in an attempt to explain to its readers what exactly the Bawaria Gangis.

Not only does the article make no distinction between Bawaria Gang and Bawaria Tribe, it includes shocking generalisations like, “Bawarias are a nomadic criminal tribe involved in a range of criminal activities for decades now…” and “Almost all attacks [by Bawarias] involve incidents of murder, rape, burglaries and/or assaults.”

Zee News went with this.

Again while the headline promises to shed light on the Bawaria Gang, what it actually does is peddle biases about the tribe. Sample this:

“Bawariya gang members belong to nomadic tribes; they are cruel and violent by nature”.

There are no details given about the particular gang involved in the rape and robbery. In another post, Zee News, for no reason at all,explains how “Bawariya gang members are known for mostly leaving their excreta at the place of attack.” There’s no mention of why this piece of information is important to the Bulandshahr case.

ABP News, again on the pretext of shedding light on the Bawaria Gang, talks about the tribe. Sample some of its prejudice: Bawarias are apparently “traditionally hunters and cruel by nature”. “On the day of Diwali, after prayers, Bawariyas leave their native places to carry out attacks.” “Their female members wander and roam around as beggars to identify potential houses to attack.” And there’s mention of “excreta” again: “The Bawariyas leave their excreta, as a ritual, at the place of attack.”

Taking a cue from the media, it seems even Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kiran Bedi believes in the colonial concept of ‘criminal’ tribes.

Former IPS officer and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry said today that“ex-criminal tribes” are “hardcore professionals in committing crimes”.

The colonial British government had notified over 150 tribes as criminal in 1871. They were defined as “those sections of the people traditionally following criminal activities such as stealing robbery, dacoity and other such criminal acts in order to obtain a livelihood.” The act was repealed in 1952 under Criminal Tribe (Repeal) Act, 1952 and all notified tribe and communities were de-notified. Clearly, that hasn’t been enough in ridding us of our biases against these tribes.

Journalist Bahar Dutt, who is currently consulting editor with CNN News18, has worked with Bawarias in Sariska, Rajasthan. According to her, Bawarias are among the lowest in the caste hierarchy. “They don’t have any legal rights or ration cards, many make a living out of doing odd jobs like shooing away animals from people’s farms and so on,” she said.

Dutt pointed out that the assumption that all Bawarias are criminals is a hangover of our colonial past. “Invariably, the cops or the forest department blame the DNTs for crimes they may not have necessarily committed because it is convenient to do so. I hope in this case, they have made arrests based on evidence and not stereotype.”

Meanwhile, this is not the only aspect of the case where some in the media have displayed rank insensitivity. A Hindustan Times report today points at how the media circus at the victims’ house has got the family begging to be left alone. As if the ordeal on the National Highway 91 was not enough, the family now has to fight prying reporters, who are relentless in their pursuit of a story — most aspects of which they are either reporting wrongly or sensationalising.

[With inputs from Amit Bhardwaj]

The author can be contacted at on Twitter @MnshaP