Community in distress

The Pernas of Kathua district, who have lived the life of criminals and are treated as social outcasts, claim to be the decedents of Prithviraj Chauhan and Maharana Pratap. Prosperity continues to elude the community despite its unscrupulous ways, reports Ashutosh Sharma from Jammu

A group of Perna children in Gati village of Kathua district

Considering themselves as a defeated community, the Pernas of Kathua district in the Jammu region are living in a state of social seclusion, and are deprived of state protection. Speaking about their lineage, they claim to be the decedents of famous warriors Prithviraj Chauhan and Maharana Pratap of Rajasthan. They believe that after their ancestors left the royal palaces, they started living in dense forests away from mainstream community. The subsequent generations were brought up in isolation, and that is why this sense of exclusion vis-à-vis society.

If a murder, burglary, rape or any other crime takes place in neighbouring states like Himachal, Punjab and Haryana, or even Rajasthan, the police pick up Perna youths as suspects. In local parlance, Perna has become a word that is liberally used to offend someone. What is famous about members of this meat-eating community is that they can even eat snakes, and are known for vigorous gymnastic skills.

They have traditionally been into manufacturing of illicit liquor — a profession which they are still pursuing in the absence of education or other entrepreneurial skills. The police keep on raiding their homes but still the community is believed to be the biggest producer of hooch in the state. The naked truth about the community is that its members have been doing anything and everything for money. However, despite that prosperity is the only thing that eludes them the most. Visit any of their homes, you would not find more than 1 kg of ration. Where does the money go? Who pockets it? Well, it remains a riddle wrapped in mystery.

A widow belonging to the Perna community standing in front of her thatch in Gati village. — Photos by the writer

It is a common trend that males of the community die prematurely because of several ailments resulting from consumption of spurious liquor. There are villages that have only widows who, along with their children, are living in abject poverty due to lack of work opportunities.

Master Shiv Nandan, a social activist of Kathua, who has been pleading the cause of the community for the past 25 years, shows a pamphlet that was distributed by leaders of the community. The text of the phamplet, under the title, “Are we criminals or…?”  is a confession of the crimes and an aspiration of the community for the beginning of a new life.

The pamphlet says the Pernas are Indians, who have been living the life of criminals. India got freedom and its people got the right to respectful living, but they could not get even this due right. The community might not have contributed to the freedom struggle abundantly. That is why their social status is still that of the cave man. The very base on which their livelihood is founded is looked down upon as crime. The court of law sends such criminals to jails and takes reformatory measures to civilise them. But they are neither taken to a court of law, nor jailed.

The pamphlet further says they are always welcomed in a thana, where they languish for several days. The scars on their bodies tell the tale of treatment at the hands of the police. In certain cases, their men die in the same custody and the bodies, instead of being handed over to next of kin, are disposed of during the night.

“We feel voiceless as neither any politician, nor any reformer, ever mustered courage to question the authorities at the helm of affairs as to why such inhuman treatment has been meted out to us. This has only emboldened the cops and given them a free hand to treat us like they have been doing.

“We are thieves; we agree. We produce illicit liquor; we agree. To earn our livelihood, we push our female folk into prostitution. But despite that our economic condition has remained as it was. Where does all our money go? We don’t know.

 “You will find us dressed in rags. Our pale faces narrate the tales of our woes. When our youth comes, and when it goes, it remains an ambiguity even for us,” according to the pamphlet.

The text of the statement further says that people look at them with scornful eyes. They cannot stay at home after sunset as, in late-night swoops, the police take away the community’s young men, who never return.

They cannot afford to send children to school. They felt reclaimed after DSP Jeet Saini inspired them to live a respectful life.

“On his assurance we started staying at our residence during night, and in the meantime, the police raided our homes and nabbed our men, and has been torturing them. The other day the police from nearby Punjab state arrested our men,” according to one of the allegations.

The village committee constituted by the Deputy Commissioner, that is supposed to curb illegal activities, is on paper only, while the police has been hiding facts from higher officials, alleges a community leader.

“From now on, we have decided to demand our rights from the government, and we will not resort to criminal activities. A few officials in the police and civil administration do sympathise with us but they get transferred,” he observes.

 “We appeal to political parties, social reformers, intelligentsia, besides other well-wishers, to treat us as your fellow countrymen.  We want the same treatment as Jai Prakash Narayan meted out to Chambal dacoits. We can be reformed, provided we are not considered criminals any more. In case someone from our community commits a crime, he should be punished individually instead of holding the entire family or community responsible for the crime,” as another Perna leader put it.

According to the community members, in villages like Gati, Kullain and Chak Tanda, a former SP generously dealt with their problems and evinced interest in solving them. He recruited several youths into the police force and gave a new direction to them. But in the meantime, he got transferred.

“Over the years, our condition ceased to improve. Though some efforts were made by officials in the police and civil administration, they did not yield appreciable results,” said community leader Om Parkash of Kullain, who served a seven-year jail term for a crime that, he says, he never committed.

HOME