Back

BUILDING A NEW IDENTITY - THE CHARRAS
Submitted by Koumudi Patil

Today,
a tortured face by itself no longer tells a
story…
a petition letter with thousands of signs
no longer has value…
spoken words cannot be
heard…
screaming only grabs
attention….
and in the end it is
violence
that makes
news
in the country of
Satyagraha…

Budhan Sabar and his wife Shyamoli belonged to the Khera Sabar tribe- a de-notified tribe. This is the only crime that they have committed- to be born a Sabar.

On February 10^th, 1998, Budhan Sabar and his wife Shyamoli got on their bicycle. "We were going to Barabazar, to my mamasasur's [mother-in-law's brother] house," says Shyamoli. On the way, they stopped for a paan. Ashoke Roy, Officer-in-Charge of the Barabazar Police Station, came up to them at the little shop and took Budhan away on his motorcycle without a charge sheet.

Over the next few days, the police beat him savagely for a crime he was not involved in. On February 17^th, he was dead. The police claimed he had hung himself in his jail cell that evening with his "gamchha", or thin towel.

Renowned literary writer, Mahashweta Devi filed a case against the custodial death. In July, Justice Ruma Pal of the Calcutta High Court delivered a judgement that tore the police version of Budhan's death to shreds. Syamoli was offered a compensation of Rs 85,000.

It was a remarkable judgement, a stunning blow to the police of Purulia. They had treated Budhan as scarcely a human being. But the judgement also made clear just how arrogantly the police behave with De-Notified Tribes.

This is one of the very few cases against the De-Notified Tribes that saw the light of the day. Most are never registered and those registered are never given a favorable judgement.
This project is based on the apathy of the state, the law and the mainstream population that assumes the right to treat people as ‘born criminals’.

Can we change this stamp of ‘criminals’?

The De-notified tribes

Former director of the Baroda-based Tribal Literature Project and noted tribal scholar G.N. Devi suggests that the story goes back to the early years of the colonial rule. “In those times, whoever opposed the British colonial expansion was perceived as a potential criminal. Particularly, if any attempts were made to oppose the government by the use of the arms, the charge of criminality was a certainty.” The other plausible theory is that after the 1857 rebellion, the colonial authorities grew nervous about nomadic people who moved around carrying important commodities such as salt and honey, and possibly carrying intelligence the British could not control.

The British labeled these nomadic tribes as “criminals” or “Notified tribes” under India's Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, to solve their law and order problems. This Act gave them powers to declare certain "tribes, gangs, or classes" as ‘born criminals'. The act required all the members of the “Notified tribes” to register with the local magistrate. The notified tribes were forcibly moved to permanent 'reformatory settlements' that acted as virtual prisons for the tribes and sources of cheap labor for the imperialist. The general rule being that, for any offence in the locality, without enquiry or evidence the people of these tribes could be arrested with non-bailable warrants.

In 1952, five years after independence, the Criminal Tribes Act was finally repealed. But instead of accepting these tortured tribes, whole heartedly in the main stream system, Independent India declared these tribes ‘denotified’. This new label is a forced memory of the past in the minds of these Tribes and that of the general public. The Government of independent India simply replaced the ‘criminal act’ by the 'Habitual Offenders Act' which preserved most of the provisions of the former Criminal Tribes Act.

More than 50 years after independence, we still refer to these tribes as De-Notified Tribes (DNTs). They are still living with the tattoo of ‘born criminals’ on their forehead!

The Charras

Chharanagar is an urban settlement in Ahmedabad, dating back to the 19th century. The Chharas are just one of the many tribes that were labeled as “criminals” or “Notified tribes” by the British under India's Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, to solve their law and order problems.

Independent India in 1952, declared these tribes 'denotified. Released from the forced labor camp (nau khol- nine rooms were allotted to the entire tribe in the outskirts of Ahmedabad as a reformatory cell) which had been their prison for the past forty years, the Chhara were resettled on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, in Chharanagar. Roughly three square miles, with a population of over twenty thousand.

But the constitution changed only words and not acts. Members of denotified tribes are still harassed by the police and carry the stigma of their formerly “criminal” designation. They are still treated as Criminals by birth and subjected to harassment and persecution at the hands of the police and the state machinery. In the eyes of the society they are still criminals- the criminal label is enough to close the doors to regular employment and social segregation is common.

Closed to mainstream opportunities, Chharanagar is primarily known today for its home brewed liquor - illegal in the dry state of Gujarat."Criminal antecedents," criminal ethnic groups," "criminal instincts," this is the kind of language that is still routinely used to describe DNTs. Now some of them do indeed commit crimes, and serious ones too. Still, hardly all of them, and hardly on a scale that would justify such a blanket prejudice.

Their children still fall under the needle of suspicion and get thrown out of schools on flimsiest and often unsubstantiated accusations. Private enterprise and the public sector continue to refuse them jobs. They are prosecuted everyday by anyone who has the power to do so.

Three years ago, I visited Charranagar with a senior colleague for a felicitation programme. My colleague is very well aware of the issues of the De-notified tribes and is a champion of their cause. The evening function turned into night, as the crowds cheered the hero of the day- a young singer who had been selected for the final round of Sa Re Ga Ma (a prestigious singing competition at the national level), a rare achievement in this settlement. But what is even more rare is the capability of this person to compete with the rest of the participants who have been trained under masters since their childhood. This young singer is self taught with no mentor.

As the voice of the young man resonated in the air, I strayed across to look around the ‘notorious’ settlement. My colleague sitting on the dias noticed my wanderings. She quietly sent two men for my ‘security’. (a single girl wandering alone in a ‘criminal’ society).

It amazed me to notice how deeply embedded our fears are, that they can defy all rational reasonings. Equipped with all knowledge regarding the tortures inflicted on this DNTs my colleague still feared for my society. Even knowledge could not fight the fears instilled in us since childhood of the ‘others’.

Our fears have overcome our rationality. Can anyone be a ‘born criminal’? Haven’t we lost our rights to be called rational beings when faced against such myths?

And above all fear of whom. Who are these ‘others’? History has made these ‘others’, but then history has certainly not been democratic in its labeling. Some Charras have been involved in thefts. Some of the incidents have been gruesome also. But did you punish the whole white world because their ancestors made the rest of the world a slave colony? Does one brand every bearded man a terrorist because some bearded men are terrorists? What kind of rationality promotes the logic of attributing the character of the part to the whole?

This fear is reflected in our eyes and in our words. And if media is truly as influential as experts say, then it is the fear reflected through the word that reflects in our eyes. The written word says that the ‘others’ are habitual offenders under law and so the eyes say that they have potential of ‘offending’ us.

The written word says that the theft that took place a month back was committed by three Charras. It does not say that the theft was committed by two Indian men or by two unemployed youth, or two hungry youth or simply two men. The written word reiterates our fear into a belief which soon becomes a rational. Charras= Thieves

The ones who hold the power to torture also hold the power to uplift. The ones who hold the power to reiterate a myth also hold the power to shred a myth into pieces.

Hence the need to be heard- to be able to tell your story in your own words and not through the words of others. To determine what is said about you, where it is said and also how it is said, which in turn necessitates the ownership of the medium of communication. But medium of communication today are expensive both as equipments and as spaces to be broadcasted. Today voicing an opinion for your rights and needs requires you to not only be conversant in a foreign language (English/ Hindi in the context of India) but also in that of the media- a media that has no place for the marginalized.

This project attempts to use the media as a tool to break the myth of ‘born criminals’.

Aims and Objectives of the project

The aim of the project is to build a marketing strategy to bring dignity in the life of the de-notified tribes .The rhetoric of the media will be built through the collaboration of the languages of advertisement and theater.

The project will initiate new platforms for information dissemination and building public opinion such as projections in multiplexes during intervals, cable advertisements, entertainment screens in outlets of Barista, CCD, local film clubs, windows of retail outlets etc.

The project is an exploration in the field of participatory art in which the theater artists of Charranagar will collaborate in shaping and designing the syntax of the rhetoric along with the use of their bodies as the medium to be on record.
The project aspires to bring about awareness of the inhuman treatment meted out to the De-notified tribes and at the same time help to build a positive attitude towards their struggle.

Genre-Theater-Advertisements

Lasswell's maxim, "who says what to whom in what channel and with what effect," will determine the future of not only the channel owners but also of those of the ownerless ones. As we steadily move from an industrial age into an information age, it becomes more and more imperative that we learn to structure our own information and be capable enough to decode another, in order to establish the rhetoric.

This project is an effort to reintegrate the Charra community with the mainstream society by breaking the myth of ‘Born criminals'

The project aspires to construct a strategy of marketing human dignity for De-notified tribes in the country. The language of marketing and advertising has been restricted to the fields of tangible commercial products only. The rhetoric of marketing, if applied to social advertising with the same fervour, keeping in mind the psychology of the viewer, may yield the same success as aggressive marketing has done to the consumer market. The strategies of mass communication of appealing to the emotions, rational, and cultural facets of the targeted audience to persuade can structure the given information to exhort change.

The emphasis of today’s advertisements has shifted from the product to the life style of the buyer. Advertisements today no longer tell us what to buy but how to live our lives and so they say ‘think apple’ and not buy apple, ‘just do it’ and not just buy it. This is very much true for social advertising and persuasion. In the social rhetoric one is not involved with the oppressed object but with the ‘upliftment’/ ‘empowerment’ of the attitude of the un-oppressed lot. The change in perception to a loftier attitude automatically changes the code of conduct of a person towards the socially under-privileged without preaching the non-enticing morality of goodness.

Theater advertisement is a pastiche of the languages of theater and advertising. It is said that the Chharas were born on the stage. They are excellent actors and singers with many productions to their credit. This unsung genre of theater has been used repeatedly by these artists to voice their opinion, but the glamour of other medium have always faded the lights in their stage. Considering this, I propose that the entire spot be created in the language of theater with heightened emotions, strong lights, limited space, props and exaggerated make up to highlight the unknown side of the Charras as artists. The recordings of these theater pieces ‘glamorously’ edited could be then used as spots. If ‘the medium is the message’ today the vehicle of the advertising language driven in celluloid can become the message that theater has failed to convey.
These cryptic advertisements of 30 seconds to 1 minute would be a participatory process where the Chharas would not only determine what is said about them but also how it is said- something that has never been in their hands. The actors will decide not only what needs to be said but also how it is said through their acting.

Subject of the advertisements

The content of the theater pieces would broadly range on the dehumanizing mechanisms of the society and the right of the Chharas to be judged (if their has to be any judgement at all) upon their deeds and not on their birth. The perpetual stigma of being a thief and the marginalization from equal opportunities could be focused through the views and questions of the Charras illustrated on the stage. Even though the subject is grim, the campaign is visualized as cheerful and positive unlike the stereotyped philanthropism of the public welfare advertisements of the day.

As I foresee it now, the advertisements would be shocking – something that could shake the complacency of our thoughts. The campaign could also be inclined towards the pop style in an attempt to maximize the reach of the audience. For instance, the Big B or Amitabh Bacchan (Famous Bollywood icon) was made famous with his lines in the 70s phase of the ‘angry young man’ ‘mera baap chor hain’ (my father is a thief.) The shot showed a close up of his wrist on which these words were tattooed. The Big B’s dialogue is an iconic line, known to every Indian. (Deewar, 1975) Appropriations of such scenes could evolve into the new revivalist Bollywood style of block busters like Om shanti Om and Khoya khoya chand.

The campaign is envisaged as 'crisp, innovative, trendy, tongue-in-cheek and attractive', in order to hold the ever-decreasing attention span of the audience. These tongue-in-cheek advertisements are intended to prick the conscience of those perpetrating the myth of the ‘born criminals’.


Display and dissemination

Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the seventh-largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population of almost 51 lakhs. There are 9 multiplexes and 35 theaters in the city of Ahmedabad. The city has six local FM stations at Radio Mirchi (98.3 MHZ), Radio City (91.1 MHZ), My fm (94.3 MHZ), Radio One (95.0 MHZ), Gyan Vaani (104.5 MHZ), All India Radio (96.7 MHZ). All India Radio is broadcast on the AM band. Satellite radio was launched in the city by WorldSpace in 2005.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that Ahmedabadis perform two basic sets of activities- Watch films (bollywood) and eat food and eat food and watch films in between they also shop. The media savvyness of these people is apparent by the above mentioned statistics. Therefore the most appropriate display and dissemination structure for our information will be multiplexes. Multiplexes have a dual advantage. They provide maximum viewership and high recall value possible due to the ease of repetition of the information. The Cinema Advertising Council reports that advertising in movie theaters is experiencing double-digit growth each year, partly because research suggests it is one of the best ways to reach young and affluent consumers.

Theater advertising takes on many forms, but generally speaking, it is any paid advertisement that appears on the movie screen or in the theater lobby. The two major methods are theater slides (ads that appear on the screen between movies) and filmed spots that appear directly prior to the movie trailers or during the intermission. While only large national advertisers such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have the budgets for filmed ads, theater slides are affordable and can be a very effective persuasion device.

These campaigns will be inserted in between the film intervals at various multiplexes, targeting the cultural and social upholders of society that reserve themselves the right to segregate an entire community from the mainstream. The maximum audience at the multiplexes belongs to the younger age group (recently employed). These spots and slides will act as an awareness campaign for many who are not even acquainted with the issue, but are still passive participants in segregating the tribe. The notions of such segregation are embedded deep in the social structure which are imbibed much earlier by the children, through if not explicit learning but at least implicitly through following actions of their elders.

Other possible avenues for projections can be the screens in major food outlets such as Barista, Mc Donalds, Mint, Subway and the likes. These outlets have small Plasma televisions which screen advertisements and songs. As almost 80 percent of Ahmedabadi families have their dinners outside on the weekend, these spaces become lucrative ground for persuasion.

Radio Mirchi has become a big craze in Ahmedabad. Radio theaters can be interspersed between popular programmes while getting the issue endorsed by a RJ (Radio jockey). RJs are becoming a cult figure in such cities with a huge fan following of their programmes.

Retail outlets in Ahmedabad thrive on the shopping sprees of Ahmedabadis which to their benefit happen very often. Retail designing especially window displays have become an important part of wooing customers. These window displays can be utilized for slide presentations which will ensure a good visibility.

As the campaign progresses, more such avenues can be included.

The collaboration with Theater artists

The participatory design process would entail collaboration in

Research – Gaining an insight on the conditions and problems of the Chharas. A selected group of theater artists would go around the basti collecting information and opinions of the Chharas on themes such as - What is it to be a Charra? Ask a question? Who am I? (insights on identity) etc. A similar exercise could be carried out with the mainstream majority –the non-Chharas- to understand their perception towards this community. Discussions within the Budhan theater group would also add to the research. This process of meeting and interacting with the Chharas would give us insights, statements and quotes
to work on in our scripts.

Conceptualization – the concept formation of the theater pieces Based on this research, we would be able to identify the core issues to be addressed and the mode of this address.

Script writing for the advertisements – the group would sit down together to revise and fine tune the dialogues.

Stage props – the stage setting, lighting, costumes and other production detail.

Theater production that is the performance itself – As I am an ‘outsider’, the stage remains the prerogative of the actors with a joint creative pool for direction. At this stage, the theater productions would be recorded / shot to make the advertisements.

Editing – The feed back of the performers and the community would be added during the editing process with regards to the final product.

Display and dissemination – As the mainstream community is not very open to ideas from the Charras, convincing the multiplex owners, retail outlets and food chains will be primarily my responsibility. Though, in future I would like the Charras to take over this work also.

Methodology

The project is divided into 4 phases

Phase 1 - Thirty days of Research which involves studying the Charras and understanding the problem from their perspective, finding appropriate theater actors for the work.
Phase 2 - Two and a half months of pre-production which includes drafting of the script, preparing the stage and rehearsals.
Phase 3 - One and a half months of production which includes the shooting of all the theater pieces.
Phase 4 - One month of post-production for editing of the material.
Phase 5 - Two months of finding relevant spaces for display and making a plan for the schedule, display and sites for the project.
Phase 6 - One month of display at the sites.

About Budhan Theater

The Budhan Theatre was created in 1998 at Chharanagar, Ahmedabad by Dakxin Bajrange and Roxy Gagdekar.

‘Budhan Theatre was founded on 31st August 1998 in commemoration of the day when India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, lifted the stigma of criminality from the settled tribes in 1952. Since 1998, Budhan Theatre has performed street plays to raise awareness about the condition of such tribes. Their goal is to demonstrate that Chharas are not “born criminals,” they are humans with real emotions, capacities, and aspirations. Each of their productions has dramatized the events surrounding custodial deaths, abductions, beatings and torture of such tribes throughout the country.

Chharas are "born actors" and are inherently talented. Budhan Theater hopes to raise awareness about the plight of India's denotified tribes estimated to be anywhere around 60 million. The Chharas are traditional performers; their families have been acting for hundreds of years.

Additionally, the youth now feel they are acting to change their lives, and in many real ways doing it to keep themselves alive. They are performing with what little they have — their bodies, their voices and their creative talent — to change their society so that they may have a future within it.’
http://budhantheatre.org/