Denotified tribes are still henchmen of politicians

The first-ever conference at a pan-Indian level on ‘National Campaign for Denotified Tribe (DNT) Human Rights’ was held in the city between December 28-29 at Henry Martyn Institute, Shivarampally. The DNTs, as they are popularly known in the social circles, are those who were originally listed as criminal tribes under an Act with the same name during the British Rule in 1871.

Once a tribe became ‘notified’ as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a crime under the Indian Penal Code. The Criminal Tribes Act of 1952 repealed the notification, i.e. ‘de-notified’ the tribal communities. This Act, however, was replaced by a series of Habitual Offenders Acts that asked the police to investigate a suspect’s criminal tendencies and whether his occupation is “conducive to settled way of life." The denotified tribes were reclassified as habitual offenders in 1959.