Anger threatened to boil over in Chharanagar throughout the day following a crackdown by the police late on Thursday night in which several people, including a photojournalist and three lawyers, were injured.
Chharanagar in east Ahmedabad is the biggest ghetto of the Chhara community—a denotified tribe (tribes that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, as criminal tribes)—in India, where nearly 20,000 people live.
Twenty-nine persons have been booked under various sections of the IPC. Some injured persons from the community were also picked up from the Civil Hospital, where they were undergoing treatment, and brought to the police station.
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According to Assistant Commissioner of Police J.P. Raol, a sub-inspector was assaulted when he went for a raid in Chharanagar. They were looking for two youths who had got into an altercation with a police patrol team earlier. The police say that they had to send teams after a mob attacked the officers.
Chharas are known for brewing country liquor and in the past there have been several cases of thefts against them. However, over time, winds of change have blown over Chharanagar and people have reformed to a large extent, barring a few exceptions.
Kalpana Gadgekar, a theatre artist working with the community, said that the police action happened after the police had an altercation with a youth of Chharanagar. The youth allegedly assaulted the police officer. Soon, around 500 policemen came back with vengeance and dragged out people from their homes, assaulted them and damaged vehicles and valuables.
Several CCTV footages show people damaging the vehicles. In one footage, two policemen are seen dragging a woman. The police had gone without any women police officers.
Gadgekar said that while they do not mind action being taken against those accused of assaulting the police, the crackdown was unwarranted. “It was police's ego [that resulted in the crackdown],” she said.
Angry over the midnight crackdown, the Chharas gathered outside the Sardarnagar Police Station even as their representatives and delegations from the Bar Council and photographers association met the police.
Daxin Chhara, a filmmaker, told THE WEEK that the crackdown was wrong. He said, “We have demanded that those arrested be released immediately and action be taken against officers involved in the incident.”
He also said that the community is in OBC category and hence the provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989, do not apply. “One of our requests is to cover the tribe under the provisions of the Act,” he said.
Shamshad Pathan, a lawyer, said that the Patels and the minorities were being attacked, and now the denotified tribe is being targeted. “This is fascism,” he said.
The community got support from noted dancer Mallika Sarabhai and Nirjhari Sinha of Jan Sangarsh Manch, among others.
Chhara said that if their demands were not met then people from the community would converge in Ahmedabad and a mega programme would be announced.