Keep eye on Phase Pardhis: Pune cops’ WhatsApp message kicks up row

CCTV grab of robbers at Daund village

Activists fighting for the rights of tribals are aghast at a WhatsApp message circulated by Pune cops that talks of keeping an eye on ‘Hindi speaking' Phase Pardhi people to curb house break-ins and robberies. They have accused the police of trying to portray a negative image of the Phase Pardhis in the minds of people who, in turn, treat them as criminals.

Recently, mid-day ran a series of stories on how members of the Pardhi tribes were targeted by a group of so-called upper caste men in Beed and how a community member was tortured in the custody of Solapur police leading to his death.

Following a rise in housebreak-ins and robberies, the Pune police circulated the internal message. It was later shared and circulated on other WhatsApp groups requesting locals to alert PSI Shahaji Gosavi of Daund police station.

The controversial WhatsApp message circulated by cops

The message in Marathi reads, "General Notice. This is in connection with dacoity committed at Daund, we are requesting all villagers to go personally and check whether there are any people from other states, Hindi speaking or Pardhi community near hill or river side or any one of those living with shepherd. If there is any more information please contact PI Ghuge and PSI Gosavi."

PI Vinod Ghuge said, "On Dussehra, five people broke into five houses at Daund village and looted Rs 3.5 lakh valuables. The incident was captured on CCTV cameras. Our team created a message and circulated it to alert citizens."

When asked for the reason for specifically naming the Pardhis since nobody has been arrested so far, Ghuge said, "I didn't check that message, my team created it. We don't want to target any tribe. We will check this message and correct it."

Pune-based Phase Pardhi tribal leader Namdev Bhosale, who has been helping youth from his community with education and employment, said, "This is unacceptable. I have been working hard to uplift the Phase Pardhi community for the last 11 years and I am working closely with the police with the aim that they don't target us unnecessarily."

A screenshot of CCTV footage showing robbers on Dussehra at Daund village

"I didn't know that the police are paid a salary to make a coordinated attack on us like this. Without arresting the culprits, how the cops learnt that they belong to the Phase Pardhi community or they are Hindi speaking people? Their intention is to attack Pardhi people for no reason," said Bhosale, who runs an organisation Shevrai Sevabhavi Sanstha in Pune.

"I will meet senior police officers and stage a protest to safeguard our people if the police continue to attack us for no reason," said Bhosale, adding, "Recently I have helped 4,500 Pardhi people earn their livelihood through fishing. Also, Pardhi youth are educated but they are not getting jobs…and if police continue to attack them like this, how will they get jobs?

Another social activist, Matin Bhosale, who has been running a school in Amravati for Phase Pardhi youth, said, "It is not a new thing, we have been facing illegal crackdowns by police only because we belong to the Phase Pardhi tribe. The British notified us as criminals but the police continue to harass us in independent India."

Another Phase Pardhi leader Sunita Bhosale from Pune said, "This is not the first time, I have seen a lot of such messages which directly target the Pardhi community. The police often circulate such messages and make videos directly attacking our liberty. If any crime takes place in the city, they start searching for Pardhis. Why do we have to face such discrimination even after independence? Is it because we are poor?"

She said the community members suffer because they do not have political backing. "We are nomadic people. We have to roam here and there but we are scared to go and meet our relatives as we feel the police will start harassing us for no reason," she said, adding that two custodial deaths have taken place, one each in Beed and Satara. "In Satara, one 17-year-old boy was killed in remand home."

Sept
Month a Phase Pardhi family was targetted