Ahmedabad : Dafer community, which is known in India as one of the former “criminal tribes”, so called because they were accused by the British of being robbers, thieves and dacoits. Traditionally, there families were hunters and gatherers. Though branded as criminals by the British government in India in 1871, these nomadic tribes included petty traders, story-tellers, acrobats, puppeteers, tightrope walkers and hunters. It is 2019, but still Dafer community faces stigma from the society and the authorities. For such communities, Ahmedabad based NGO Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM) has been working for them.
Mittal Patel, founder of VSSM addressing Dafer community
This organization works for nomadic and denotified communities since last twelve years for the human rights, livelihood regeneration, housing and education of these communities. Dafers used to be a part of Provincial army but eventually they lost their traditional occupation and had to indulge in robbery in the wake of abject poverty. On 3rd December, 2019, a meeting was held for the leaders of Dafer community by the founder of VSSM Mittal Patel. Some Dafers were allegedly involved in criminal activities such as rape, carrying weapons, etc. in this meeting leaders of Dafer community had discussed many things with the VSSM founder and they came at conclusion to set up a committee to monitor community standards and set up stringent rules related to not carrying Tamanchas (handmade guns), hunting and not getting involved in criminal activities. The discussion ended with around 50 leaders of the community deciding not to let the numbers of their clan indulge into criminal activities of any kind. The organization VSSM will be only helpful to people who get out of criminal activities. Indeed, this meeting marks a positive start towards the issues pertaining to the Denotified communities.
