Birth of Women Dacoits A Case Study of UP and MP

Research Proposal
On
"Birth of Women Dacoits
A Case Study of U.P. and M.P."
Submitted to
The joint director (Research)
Department of Women & Child Development
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Jeevandeep Building, Mezzanine floor,
New Delhi – 110001
Submitted by
Krestar Educational and Welfare Society
Registered under Societies Registration act
Reg. No. 6044/2000
Second Floor, Yamunotri Appartment,
96, Nehru Colony, Thatipur, Gwalior (M.P.)
1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Krester Education and Welfare Society, Gwalior is extremely
grateful to Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government
of India to through a light on the issues related to the women
dacoits by awarding the study on :"Birth of Women Dacoits : A
Case Study of U.P. and M.P."
We would like to put on record, our sincere thank to the
public, educated professionals & all those who have given us
information and their personal views.
In addition, we are also grateful to the women dacoit who
have shared their views with us on different issues related to
subject matter.
The Team members would like to express their thanks to Mr.
Avdesh Singh Yadav who is Director of Krester Education and
Welfare Society for his support in the successful conduct of the
study.
Finally we appreciate the Krester Education & Welfare
Society for providing infrastructural support as and when required.
Team Members
2
PREFACE
A study of the women dacoits of the Chambal valley was
undertaken to determine what special circumstances exist which
pressurize women to take up dacoity, or whether these outlaws
had a psychopathic disposition. The study sample consisted of 30
women dacoits from 8 districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh, and 100 normals (non-criminals) from each district
in the same region. Among the most important factors contributing
to their choosing this particular criminal career were: insecure
childhood,
amenity,
psychopathic
or
wayward
tendencies,
belonging to a family of outlaws, rejection by society, extremely
discordant family conditions, and the influence of operating
dacoits.
The purpose of the investigation was to see if special factors or
circumstances existed in the lives of these women, which made
them choose this particular career, in comparison to normal and
other criminals of the same region.
3
VOTE OF THANKS
We are highly grateful to the Joint Director (Research), of
women & child Development, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, for awarding us this valuable opportunity to
undertake research on the root causes for birth of women Dacoits
as a case study of U.P. & M.P.
In addition we are also thankful to those superintendent of
Police & other police officials, News agencies & Newspaper
journalists along with other high officials of all eight districts who
have put light on this issue from time to time as & when required
by our researchers.
Lastly we would like to congratulate our team members on
finishing this research with fruitful result & would also thanks them
for giving full time, support and hard work to accomplish this task.
Our team members who have put in their efforts are –
1.
Project – coordinator
Dr. Shyam Pathak
2.
Research coordinator
Ms. Kamakshi Maheshwari
3.
Asst. Research coordinator
Ms. Kiran Pamnani
4.
Research Officer
Dr. Kiran Yadav
4
Along with those mentioned above we are also thankful to
some field investigators:

Vaishali Yadav

Rita Rajpoot

Seema Khare

Sunil Sharma

Aarti Sharma

S.K. Mishra

Madhu Kushwaha

Aarti Rathore

Mr. Pankaj Singh
Suresh Sachdeva
Avdesh Yadav
(Project Director)
(Secretary)
5
A Research Proposal on
Birth of Women Dacoit in the States of M.P. and U.P
Contents
Page No.
1.
Brief History of Dacoity System
2.
Research Methodology
3.
History of Madhya Pradesh At a Glance with regard to





4.
1-7
8-13
Gwalior
Shivpuri
Morena
Sheopur
Bhind
14-35
22
25
29
30
32
History of Uttar Pradesh at a Glance with regard to
 Kanpur
 Orai
 Etawah
36-44
40
41
42
5.
Chambal Valley : Attraction Forever
45-67
6.
Dacoity Situation at Present with the Case Study of:
68-92




Phoolen Devi
Seema Parihar
Neelam Gupta and
some other prominent Women Dacoit
7.
Basic Reasons for Birth of Women Dacoit
93-113
8.
Socio – Economic Impacts on the Community
114-128
9.
Remedies to Control birth of Women Dacoits
129-145
10.
Conclusion
146-149
11.
News Gallery
150-156
12.
References
157
6
7
PUTLI BAI
(THE FIRST BANDIT QUEEN OF INDIA
8
The word Dacoity is the anglicized version of the Indian
Languages the word dakaitee which comes from Dakoo means
"armed robber".
Dacoity is a form of robbery with violence which is prevalent
in various parts of the Indian sub-continent. This kind of crime is
usually committed by a gang, armed with all kinds of modern
weaponry, practices and methods differ from place to place. A
region with special characteristics of its own runs for several
hundred kilometers, on both the sides of the Chambal River and its
tributaries, on the borders of three states. This area is nearly 250
kms. South and south east of Delhi, and consists of a barren tract,
with a maze of ravines, extending to depths of 15-20 kms. On both
the sides of river Communications are very poor, villages are
difficult to reach on foot and the population is sparse, which gives
an added advantage and provides an ideal hiding place for the
dacoits infesting the region.
The institution of dacoity can be traced to the times of the
early Muslim invasions, when the vanquished Rajput princes took
refuge in Chambal hide-outs to carry out guerilla activities from
there. Since then, the area has always been a refuge for political
fugitives. A good first- hand description of Chambal dacoits was
given in Mughal times by two priests, Father Aquaviva and Father
Monserat, who traveled from Goa to the Mughal courts through the
area.
During the heyday of the princely states, the dacoits Chiefs
had considerable influence, both politically and socially, and were
bestowed favors by the ruling princes. Their men were employed in
9
the state army and police, and enjoyed certain privileges. The
status-quo was maintained during British rule, with the result that
these dacoit chieftains were kept contained in the region. Their
economic problems were relieved, and they maintained peace and
order in the territory. Subsequent to the granting of independence
to India, the ruling princes lost their privileges and power. Their
militia was disbanded and little effort was made to understand the
problems of the inhabitants of the region, or the enormity of the
issues involved. As a result, the whole of the Chambal area went
into turmoil, and unrestrained gang activity broke out, with
multiplication of the gangs, each working on its own. In spite of the
deployment of a large police force, the gang activities were little
affected.
For centuries, Chambal's dacoits have captured the public
imagination: the royal baaghi (rebel), who helped the helpless; the
long-suffering farmer who took up arms against the rich feudal
lord; the poor goatherd who could find no other escape from state
atrocities; the woman who swore blood-revenge against her
rapists. Despite all their atrocities;the women,the appalling
treatment of Phoolan Devi by dacoit gangs is evidence that the
outlaws’ world was just as oppressive as the society it came from.
The trends are chaning but still the presence of women
continues with dacoits in one form or the other.A few gangs that
claim to be `dacoits' in the traditional sense still exist. There are
the Gadaraiyas, for example, who shot into national headlines
when they killed 13 Gujjars in Bhanwarpura, in October 2004. Or
Jagjivan Parihar, who operates near Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. But
the truth is that dacoit gangs have metamorphosed into something
10
quite different: closer in spirit and technique to the mafia don than
to the social bandit or caste and class rebel. The worst era of
dacoity in Chambal was in the 1970s and 1980s, when the region
faced severe drought. Most dacoits came from farming families
and, when they surrendered, went back to farming. However, the
rebels - or robbers, thugs and kidnappers - are closely bound to
their original clans and are divided sharply along caste lines. A
gang comprised of "upper-caste" Thakurs, for instance, would
attract other Thakurs.
Dacoity in Chambal, is not new but trace back to nearly year
1857. In ancient times, during the Harshvardhan era, the Chinese
traveller Huen Tsang was robbed near present-day Dhaulpur.
Records show a flourishing tradition of dacoity during the Rajput
era, with gangs led by members of the Tomar caste and made up
of individuals of royal blood who had rebelled against the throne of
Prithvi Raj Chauhan. The Mughal emperor Babur mentioned
dacoits in his memoirs Baburnama, recording that the empire's
army had to be committed to battle them. By this time, the
Chambal's baaghis were from the Jat and Gujjar castes.After this,
when british came into force they ordered that thugs should be
hang in his own village to be proved as a lesson to others.
It was around 20th century, that the dacoit-duo that was to
give a definitive shape to Chambal's modern dacoit traditions, took
to the forest. The brothers `Dongar-Baturi', following the longstanding tradition of kinsmen forming the nucleus of gangs, started
out by avenging the murder of their father. "Dongar-Baturi created
the first really organized gang," They began by looting treasure
from the Scindia government when it was transported through
11
forests on bullock carts. For the sake of safety and clout, they
increased the size of the gang. They were also known for cutting
off the noses and ears of their enemies.
During The 1950’s Era major gangs who were operating in
Chambal Region were Lakhan Singh’s Gang which had about 20 strong
members
 Pana’s Gang which had about 7-8 strong members.
 Bahudra’s Gang which had about 14-15 strong members.
 Remnant of Roopa ‘s Gang
 Devi lal Shikari’s Gang
 Remnants of Kalla & Shirpal gang
 Gabbar singh had a membership of 28 people.
 Kalla-Putli has a membership of 15 people.
 Tantia singh.
Apart from these, there were numerous local gangs who
were operating at their levels. The special anti-dacoity operations
were started in the month of March 1953 and were directed
towards the liquidation of major gangs mentioned above.
Women were also not behind. During the era of 1950’s we
can trace the first woman dacoit of Chambal Puti Bai. Life story of
almost all the dacoits follows same pattern. There would be a
minor land dispute in the village, tempers would flare and someone
would get killed. Faced with the option of surrendering to the
police, and facing a lifetime in prison, most of them would choose
to run away to the forests and join an already-established dacoit
12
gangs. In time, the more enterprising within a gang would set up
their own group, after their leader left his life of crime or was killed.
One of the major facts that should be noticed is that early
dacoits had some code of conduct. They touched only the, and
wouldn’t hurt a woman even if she were loaded with gold. Time to
time, different moral code of the time was to that of today’s gangs.
Today’s gangs are only driven by greed .these are gonads. They
will take money from anyone, anyhow. They use to insult and
abuse good men. They want wine and women.
Earlier, gangs would not make impossible demands for
ransom. If they took one rupee from a man, was for to keep him
safe. If a village supported us, we'd even offer to bring back their
stolen buffaloes. Now there's too much bribery everywhere. They
touched only rich persons of society and never touched poor
persons but they distributed money to the locals, to create
permanent allies. The Robin Hood image is a false one. If they
wanted to help the poor, they'd give away 90 per cent of what they
make. Clearly, that isn't happening. They give to the poor as a
survival tactic, not for altruistic motives.
We have traced remnants of women dacoits in the Era of
1950’s till now. Though earlier people talked about respect for
women but none paid them in reality. As a result PUTLI BAI, the
first woman dacoit of Chambal region was born and this was
continued till the birth of Manorama –the last bandit queen of
Chambal who has recently been arrested. But the most highlighted
woman dacoit was Phoolan Devi “The Bandit Queen”. Hence
started with Putli Bai, there was uncountable increase in birth of
13
woman dacoit. This was not because women was interested in
dacoity but because of domination and bad treatment by Male
dacoits. For example, Nirbhay Gujar had four wives, three of whom
he had kidnapped &they had run away at first opportunity.
Despite all their talk of respect for women, the appalling
treatment of Phoolan Devi by dacoit gangs is evidence that the
outlaws' world was just as oppressive as the society it came from.
However, the Gadariyas are known for treating women with a
degree of respect that far exceeds any that might have been
exhibited in the past. Its leader Rambabu Gadariya is rumored to
touch their feet and give little presents of money every time he
meets women. If something has changed, it is the economic
character of Chambal - which in turn has transformed the life and
structure of the region's dacoits.
Now we can see changing modes of dacoit activity closely.
"Kidnapping is the most profitable activity today, rather than
looting," he notes. But that is changing too. Often, other locals,
who get a cut on the deal, deliver the kidnap victim into the hands
of the gang. Sometimes, a small gang does the kidnapping, but
hands over charge of the victim to a bigger gang. There is also a
major protection racket going on. Many quarries in the region
producing stones for export are illegal. The quarry-owners who
operate in the wilderness and are exposed to danger pay
protection money to the dacoits. "Dig deep enough," says Rana
candidly, "and you'll find that the who's who of Madhya Pradesh is
involved, including politicians. There are vested interests in dacoitgangs."
14
Since from the very beginning, various measures have been
instituted to tackle the dacoit menace. A novel experiment of the
Change of Heart movement by Acharya Vinoba Bhave resulted in
the voluntary surrender of large number of dacoits, in whom
dormant feeling of self remorse was kindled. This paradox provided
an opportunity for psycho-social study of this unusual breed of men
- the names of some of them were legends. The life histories of
some infamous dacoits of the past indicated that they were made
of a strange mettle, their activities ranging from extreme
compunction and pity to unrestrained fury and sadistic cruelty, thus
creating an atmosphere of awe and respect in the region.
15
Research Methodology
The study is an exploratory study having both quantitative as
well as qualitative base. It is an evaluation study based on the
observation
of
what
has
already
happened.
It
is
not
experimentation. The explorative study approach has been
adopted to analyze the broad spectrum of cause and remedies of
Birth of Women dacoits in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh &
its Impact on the society.
Data collection
Data has collected from both
(1) Primary Data
(2) Secondary data.
Primary Data
Primary data has been collected by interviewing prominent
women dacoits of all districts. General public opinions have also
been taken for detail study.
Secondary data
For augmenting the secondary data desk study was
conducted & existing literature was extensively reviewed, various
published book, articles, documents & reports were browsed
through data & case study of women dacoit.
16
Interview Schedules
An interview schedule has been designed in order to collect
data from the sampling universe. The schedule consisted of
background information like, age, education, qualification & nature
of work, family background & occupation, reason for taking up
dacoity along with the appropriate research question.
Personal interaction & structured questionnaires were used
for collecting the information. The questionnaires were designed
for dacoit & general public categories. All the sections of society
has been covered to have information through common format.
Scope of Data
The study will bring into light the initiatives taken by the
government to Curb & eliminate the problems of dacoits in the
Chambal valley region & some nearby places which all are &
jointed by the Chambal region. Its socio-economic impact on the
population of these regions & psychological problem of young girls,
behavioral problems caused by fear of dacoits & proposed remedy
on the initiative of the government creates the overall scope of
study.
This study give us idea to understand the problems of young
women, their views about life & the effective recommendation,
which will be useful to the policy makers to help curbing this lasting
problem of dacoits.
SAMPLING
17
Sample Frame:
As per the terms of reference of the study 5 districts from the
Madhya Pradesh and the 3 districts from the Uttar Pradesh has
been selected. From each district the100 respondents has
selected for detailed study.
Sample Universe
The universe of the study will consist of several sections of
society including young girls of Bhind, Morena, Sheopur, Gwalior,
Shivpuri, Etawah, Kanpur, Orai, all these border districts of M.P. &
U.P. whose predecessors have taken a lead in the history of
women dacoit born in Chambal Valley.
The universe will also include the women dacoits imprisoned
in the recent past who have been associates of Seema Parihar,
lovely Pandey, Sulekha Parvati Babli etc. these districts have been
especially selected for the study keeping in view their background
with substatiancy large number of women dacoits hailed from
these districts learnt from secondary sources.
Selection of District
The districts were selected in consultation with the
executives of the krestar educational and welfare society. Mrigpura
village in Morena is being gobbled up by the ravines, nayakpura,
rubara, Ajitpura, khadoli, Jaghona, Rithona, Mahuwa sarsani,
gauspura are among the innumerable ravine, affected villages in
this region. The ravines have spread along the main rivers of the
region which includes chambal, Quari, Asan, Seep, Vaishali, Kuno,
18
Parvati, Sanka and Sindh. The district of Bhind, Gwalior, Shivpuri,
Morena, Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh and Etawah, Kanpur, Orai in
Uttar Pradesh are highly affected with the problems of dacoity, due
to ever escalating problem of dacoits in these districts, atmosphere
is changing every where all the district area will be identified for the
purpose of the study with this problem the young women & girls
are affected by the day to day in the region.
In Selection of sample size convenience method of sampling
was used to start the research with Dacoits & the general public.
However, proper care was taken to ensure representation of
different sections of society.
19
Sample Size
The sample size of universe in four district of Madhya
Pradesh & in three districts of Uttar Pradesh areState
Districts
Sample size
Madhya Pradesh
Gwalior
100
Bhind
100
Morena
100
Shivpuri
100
Sheopur
100
Orai
100
Etawah
100
Kanpur
100
Uttar Pradesh
In addition 30 women dacoits were also given personal research in
order to have adequacy of information and have first hand
knowledge.
Focus:
While collecting & analyzing the information the focus has
evaluated on the problems of women & the causes of the birth of
women dacoit & their impact on our society.
The focus was on the socio economic, psychological
problems of young women & girls caused by persistent problems
of dacoits in the region.
20
Types of abuses caused by dacoits on young women & girls.
And various harmful affect & behavioral problems.
To understand the nature & extent of will power of these
young women, girls getting into revengeful act & explore the steps
to counter their thought process.
The focus was on the steps which are taken by government
and analyze the same for being responsible extending the
problems for future generation and the measures for permanent
settlement of these problems.
Limitation of the Study
In these full details there is also some limitation which is
given below:
1. This study consisted of various sections of society and
a vast number of samples. And hence due to its
vastness it was quite unrealistic to approach all the
samples, but care has been taken to cover almost
every sector of society.
2. Inability to approach all of the Dacoit & hesitation of
those who were approached to provide all the
information is also another area of limitation of the
study.
3. Unavailability of data from every officials, related to
police, press, reporters, etc. But a wide group of
officials have been covered.
21
Before understanding depth of study of the reasons of birth
of women dacoit in the state of Madhya Pradesh one should know
its social, cultural, physical, historical background. For this purpose
chapter 3rd and chapter 4th has been included in this research report
which deals with History of Madhya Pradesh and History of Uttar
Pradesh respectively.
In history of Madhya Pradesh one can find, history of
Gwalior, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Bhind &Morena district also.
It was done in order to have a view on the background of
different district & their relation to dacoity.
Similarly a detail study of Kanpur, Etawah &Orai district of
Uttar Pradesh has been undertaken to have a in depth knowledge
of these district.
This study was significant because these districts along with
some of the districts of Rajasthan create the Chambal belt along
with Chambal valley which is famous for dacoits
22
Madhya Pradesh at a Glance
Madhya Pradesh, in its present form, came into existence
on November 1,2000 following its bifurcation to create a new state
of Chhattisgarh. The undivided Madhya Pradesh was founded on
November 1, 1956.Madhya Pradesh, because of its central
location in India, has remained a crucible of historical currents from
North, South, East and West.
Madhya Pradesh occupies perhaps the oldest part of the
subcontinent. Close to Bhopal at Bhimbetka are the pre-historic
caves that preserve some fascinating paintings dating back to
Paleolithic times. Experts have concluded that these are at least
as old as the specimen at Pyrnees
This was perhaps one of the earliest dwellings of human
beings. in fact, the excavations here have revealed a cultural
sequence right from the late stone age to the early historical
period.
Madhya Pradesh is the richest state in the country in respect
of painted rock-shelters, the majority of which have been found in
the districts of Sehore, Bhopal, Raisen, Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri,
Hoshangabad and Sagar. During the ascendancy of the Guptas
the whole region came under the domain of the imperial Guptas
and subsequently formed part of Harshvardhan's empire. With the
decline in imperial power the province was broken up into small
principalities contending forever to establish their supremacy over
one another. Chandels were one such dynasty claiming descent
from the moon, who carved out a strong prosperous kingdom for
23
themselves after the decline of the great empire. There was a
short spell of inspired construction activity under the Chandels in
the 10th to 11th centuries. They are the ones who have left behind
the cluster of matchless temples at Khajuraho.
Chandels were followed by Pratihara and Gaharwar in
bundelkhand, in Chambal Kachwaha, Parmar, Tomar, Bhadoria,
Sengar, Jat and some other local Rajput dynasties claiming
mythical origins relating their scions to the gods or heroes in the
epics. They lived and died by a difficult code of chivalry, wasted
away scarce resources in an expensive feudal life style and could
not ultimately keep at bay the expanding Muslim power. Rulers of
Malwa fought a running battle with the subedars of Gujarat or the
commanders of the Sultan of Delhi throughout the sultanate
period. The grand Moghul Akbar succeeded in subduing most of
them and his sterner grandson Aurangzeb broke through the last
pockets of resistance in this region.
Many of the smaller kingdoms trace their origins to the lands
granted by the emperor at Delhi to those who had served him
well.Bir Singh Deo of Orchcha was for instance installed on his
throne by Jehangir who felt obliged to the Bundela chieftain for
having removed a painful thorn - Abul Fazal, from his side. Abul
Fazal one of the nine jewels of Akbar's court, was murdered at his
behest near Gwalior.
Some other principalities came into being with branching of
families, internecine quarrels and the munificence of the Marathas
24
who were indomitable with - the decline of the Moghuls. Rulers of
Ratlam, Sailana and Sitamau claim close relationship with the
ruling house of Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
Madhya Pradesh consisted the region called Malwa,
Vindhya, Mahakaushal, Nimar, Gwalior and Bundelkhand area.
The Malwa region was occupied by the predecessors of the Bhils,
Gonds and other tribes who had to confront the Aryans. The
Aryans who were stronger pushed the tribal inhabitants to the
south of the Vindhyas. The Malwa region is also found to have
evidences of a civilization contemporary to the Indus Valley
Civilization. This region excelled in art and architecture during the
period of Buddhism when this area witnessed the rule of Mauryan
empire till 327 B.C. The Sungas also established their influence
over this region. The rule of Vikramaditya lasted from 78AD to
388AD and after this Chandragupta II ruled from 388 to 401AD. A
After the decline of the Guptas, by the 10th century Malwa was
under King Bhoja II of the Paramaras. Internal rivalry between the
tribes and the Rajputs made it easy for the Muslims to establish
their rule which lasted till 1401AD. The area of Gwalior, Chambal
and Malwa was the Khiljis under Mahmud Khilji ruled from 14351459. The invasion of Babar paved the way for establishment of a
strong Muslim rule from 1526 to 1530. The Sur dynasty under Sher
Shah also had its influence on it. In 1562 Akbar made it a part of
the Mughal empire and it remained a part of Mughal empire till the
18th century. The tribal, Gonds gained control of Malwa after the
decline
of
the
Mughals
followed
by
the
Marathas
from
1690.Though this area too fell under the British jurisdiction it was
administered by the Marathas who ceded it to the British
25
completely by 1817. In 1948 after independence this region of
Central India was joined with regions of Gwalior, Indore and
Bhopal as Madhya Bharat. In 1956 it was organised into the
present Madhya Pradesh.
Area
Capital
Districts
Population
Male
Female
Literacy
Language
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
443,446 sq.km
Bhopal
45
66,181,170
34,232,048
31,949,122
43.45%
Hindi
A part of Madhya Pradesh has been separated and formed
into a new state Chattisgarh from November 1, 2000. The details
given here are before the separation. Click on Chattisgarh for more
information.
Madhya Pradesh situated in the centre of India, is
surrounded by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in the south,
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in the north, Bihar and Orissa in the
east and Gujarat in the west. The state of Madhya Pradesh came
into existence on November 1, 1956.
Except for the valleys of the Narmada and the Tapti, Madhya
Pradesh consists of a plateau with mean elevation of 1600 ft
above sea level, interspersed with the mountains of the Vindhya
and the Satpura ranges. The main river systems are the Chambal,
Betwa, Sindh, Narmada, Tapti, Mahanadi and Indravati. Nearly a
third of the state's area is covered with tropical forests ranging
between the rivers Chambal in the north and Godavari in the
26
south. To the east of Chambal, the area has rocky surface and
thick forest. Farther north, the topography of the plains stretches
up to the ravines of Chambal.
The highlands of Malwa present an appearance of waving
fields of grain and the green luxuriance among the shades of
mango and tamarind trees clustering round the rural habitations.
The inhabitants of this plateau are mostly agriculturists. The low
lying area in the north of Malwa which touches the tract around
Gwalior has a different appeal. Its north-east side gradually
extends to the Bundelkhand and meets the Kaimur Hills in
Baghelkhand. Here the people are more sturdy and of lesser
height as compared to the peasants of Malwa. The hilly regions fall
mainly on the Vindhya and Satpura ranges where Bhils, Gonds,
Korkus and other tribes of mixed descent practice agriculture. The
river Narmada which rises from Amarkantak begins to run through
a rocky bed near Jabalpur and Mandla. It emerges near Mandhata
and widens its flow near Maheshwar in Nimad. During the rainy
season a rich growth of vegetation is visible all around. The black
soil of Madhya Pradesh bears magnificent crops.
The climate is extreme in the north of Madhya Pradesh. It is
cool and breezy in the central parts and humid in the eastern and
southern regions.
27
Birth of Dacoits in Madhya Pradesh
The problem of Dacoits has not cropped up in a day or two.
History has seen it rising every day. The main reason for it is the
Geographical, Social and Economic conditions of the District.
Natives of the district are filled with strange feeling of revenge. The
folk lures of Ala Udal and many lullaby germinates the seed of
such feelings. These are filled with the moral that "A life is an
abuse for the one whose enemy is living". As they are fed on the
milk of such moral minor disputes and rivalry makes them outlaws
and they find their way to the ravines. Those who can not dare to
go there and take their revenge, help the law flaunting fugitives
and in return fetch their aid to solve their rivalries.
Beginning of Dacoit Problem in Madhya Pradesh
The most important problem which the new State of Madhya
Pradesh had to face was the growing menace of Dacoity in the
northern districts of Chambal ravines and the north eastern
districts of Chambal ravines and the north eastern districts of
Bundelkhand.
The problem of dacoity in these areas was rooted in the history of
its people, the nature of terrain and the primitive life of vendetta.
When the new State of Madhya Pradesh came into being, these
areas were swarming with formidable dacoit gangs.
As a result, the fabric of law and order in that area was
steadily weakening. Under the stewardship of Shri Rustamji, a
scheme was drawn up for strengthening the Police force and
improving wireless network in that area. The implementation of the
28
scheme, coupled with the grit shown by officers and men, paid rich
dividends and leading dacoit gangs: namely, Mansingh, Amritlal,
Malkhan Singh, Putli Bai, the Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi, Roopa,
Gabbar, Kalla and Lakhan Singh which were synonymous with
terror passed into the bowels of history.
Similar success was achieved in Budelkhand area where
dreaded gang of Moorat Singh and Chaliraja were liquidated.The
good work done by the State Police was recognized and
complimented by the president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on
the occasion of the ceremonial parade held at Gwalior to honor the
Police Units taking part in these operations. The dacoity menace
was not completely eradicated, but the backbone of the problem
was broken and in about a decade time, the police was on the
ascendancy. This demoralized the dacoit gangs completely and
they were forced to seek an honorable surrender. In 1972,
therefore with the efforts of the peace mission headed by Shri
Jayprakash Narayan, nearly 550 dacoits surrendered, peace and
prosperity returned to the area after centuries.
The dacoity problem, however, cropped up again in the
eighties with the formation of the gangs of Malkhan Singh, Mohar
Singh and Ramesh Sikarwar. The State Government had to enact
a Special Law in 1981, the Madhya Pradesh Dakaity Prabhavit
Kshektra Adhiniyam, with special powers to police. Armed with
these special powers the police again moved into action and
eliminated most of the notorious gangs in encounters. Later,
Malkhan Singh, Ramesh Sikhawar and Phoolan Devi surrendered
before the Chief Minister, Shri Arjun Singh and again peace was
restored. The special law was repealed thereafter.The dacoit
29
problem has not been completely eradicated and a lasting solution
lies largely in terms of socio-economic remedy. Today, the
problem does exist, but within manageable limits.
30
Details of Major Areas Captured By Dacoits
along with their history
 GWALIOR
Gwalior City is a District in Madhya Pradesh State near
Âgra. The new section of the city called Lashkar. Lashkar is few
miles South from the old city. It is the site of factories producing
cotton, yarn, paint, ceramics, chemicals, and leather products. The
nucleus of Gwalior is a citadel crowning an isolated rock about 91
m (300 ft) high, 3.2 km (2 mi) long, and 823 m (2700 ft) wide. The
rock is said to have been a strong hold for more than Ten
Centuries and Old city is located in the Eastern base of the rock.
The old city is covered with white sandstone Mosque, Palaces,
rock temples and statues of archaeological and architectural
interest. Gwalior City was the Capital of the princely State of
Gwalior until 1948 and the summer Capital of Madhya Bharat
State from 1948 to 1956. When Madhya Bharat became part of
Madhya Pradesh, it becomes separate District. According to
Census 1991, population of the District was 692,982.
Gwalior's history is traced back to a legend in 8th century AD
when a chief tain known as Suraj Sen was struck by a deadly
disease and cured by a hermit-saint Gwalipa. As a gratitude for
that incidence, he founded this city by his name. The new city of
Gwalior became existance over the centuries. The cradle of great
dynasties ruled the city Gwalior. With different Dynasty, the city
gained a new dimension from the warrior kings, poets, musicians,
and saints who contributed to making it renowned throughout the
31
country. The city is also the setting for the memorials of freedom
fighters such as Tatya Tope and the indomitable Rani of Jhansi
Laxmi Bai. Today the old settings stand side by side with the
trappings of modernity.
Total Area Details
Total Area
5214.00 sq.kms.
Forest Area
1091.79 sq kms
Net sown area
2601.42 sq.kms
No. of Households 209.12 thousands
Net irrigated area 911.93 sq.kms
Population Details
Total Population 1412.61
thousands
Total Males 770.85 thousands
Total Literates 661.59
thousands.
Total Females 641.76
thousands.
Urban Population 830.45
Rural Population 582.16
thousands
thousands
Total Workers 436.73 thousands Main Workers 403.58 thousands
32

SHIVPURI
The district derives its name from God "Shiva". It was known
earlier by the name 'Sipri'. The Shivpuri place first found a
mention during Mughal times in 1564 when Emperor Akbar is
stated to have halted at this place. During that period it formed a
part of Narwar Sarkar. Narwar or Narbar is a tahsil with a
population of 6745 persons as per 1991 census, located at a
distance of 43 kms from Shivpuri, the district head quarters. It has
a very big ancient fort and a wealth of history behind. The district
was known as Narwar district during the times of Gwalior State,
although its Headquarter was at Shivpuri. Shivpuri remained with
the Kachhawaha Rajputs upto 1804 when it was taken over by
Scindia's. It was captured by the English in 1817 but returned to
Scindia's next year and it continued to be a part of Gwalior state
since then. In 1859 it is said that the great Indian leader Tatya
Tope was hanged near the present Collectorate. Maharaja
Madhav
Rao
Scindia
paid
much
attention
towards
the
development of Shivpuri. He constructed a big palace and also
developed the city. It was the summer capital of Gwalior State and
government offices were shifted here in summer months. Shivpuri
was constituted as a district in erstwhile Madhya Bharat and
continues as such with practically no change since1951.
The district is bounded on the North by Morena, Gwalior and
Datia districts, on the East by Jhansi district of U.P, on the West by
Kota district of Rajasthan and on the South by Guna district. The
district headquarter Shivpuri is located on NH-3 (Agra-Bombay
National Highway) at a 113 Km from Gwalior and 98 Km from
Guna. The district is mostly laid out over small hill tops covered
33
with deciduous forests where the slope is gentle with verdant
vegetation and good forests round about, the landscape is
generally pleasing.
Brief Profile of the District Shivpuri (As per 2001 census)
Area
Forest Area
Cultivated land Area
10298 Sq. Kilometers
18139 Hectare
409264 Sq. Kilometers
Latitude
Longitude
Sea level Height
24.6 - 25.6 degrees
77.0-78.4 degrees
521.5
Tehsil 07
Block 08
Gram Panchayats 605
Municipal Bodies 07
Habitations
1459
Population
1441950
Rural Population 1202277
Urban Population 239673
Male Population 776190
Female Population 665760
Caste wise Population Ratio
General
SC
ST
34
.
70.03%
18.78%
11.19%
Population Growth per decade
Literacy
Male Literacy
Female Literacy
Sex Ratio
Road Length
Pucaa Road
Kaccha Road
No. Of Electrified Villages
30.84%
59.55%
74.78%
41.54%
858
1496 Kilometers
1256 Kilometers
240 Kilometers
1280
Physical Aspects
The district can be bifurcated into three main divisions based on its
geology
1.
The Bundelkhand trap: It comprises mostly Pre-Dharwarian
granites, which consists of sparsely cultivated uplands and
shallow valley. It covers eastern half of the district with an
area of 1,539 Sq. miles (3985.99 Sq. Kms.) approximately.
2.
The Upper Vindhyas: Sandstone's of Kaimur Rewa and
Bhander are commonly found in this region. The dips are
very shallow and this suggests that there has been a very
little disturbance since Vindhyan period. This region occupies
the western half of the district.
3.
The Deacon Trap: It mainly constitutes undulating plains
and flat topped ranges of the hill. It covers an area of 426 sq.
miles (1103.34 Sq. Kms.) towards the southern parts of the
district viz.- towards Bhadarwas, Barokra Laterite and
Aluminum are also found in the region and cover an area of
374.80 Sq. miles (968.66 sq. kms).
35
Agriculture
Shivpuri is mainly an agricultural district and so cultivation is
the main occupation of the people .The dependence on cultivation
can be viewed from the fact that 83.38 percent of the total workers
of district are engaged in agriculture either as cultivators (70.40%)
or as agriculture laborers (12.98%). Rice, Jowar, Bajra, Maize,
Wheat and Barley are the main cereal crops. Gram & Tur (Arhar)
are the main pulses grown in the district, Sugarcane, condiments
and spices; sesamum (til) and linseed are other crops of the
district.
36

MORENA
It is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India The
district is part of Chambal Division . The town of Morena is the
district and divisional headquarters. The district has a widely
dispersed population of about 150,0000 as of 2001. The town is
mostly farmland, and trains are a popular form of transportation,
although they connect only about 15% of the villages within
Morena. Morena is famous for its mustard production.
Most of present-day Morena District formed Tonwarghar
District of the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior. After India's
independence in 1947, the princely states acceded to the
Government of India , and Morena District acquired its present
boundaries with the addition of the small princely estate of
Pahargarh in the south of the district. Morena District became part
of the new state of Madhya Bharat , which was merged into
Madhya Pradesh in 1956.
37

SHEOPUR
Sheopur is located at northern part of Madhya Pradesh. The
district is well connected by Road & Railways network. Some of
the main locations are Vijaypur, Karahal and Baroda. Major tourist
attraction is Palpur (kuno) wildlife sanctuary. The well-known
Kaketa reservoir is located in this district. The art of woodcarving
has flourished in district Sheopur and the beautifully embellished
wooden ceilings, doors and lintels with finely carved designs are
silent testimonials of its glory. The wood carvers of Sheopur, with
great sensitivity and skill transform different varieties of wood. The
crafts persons of Sheopur make pipes, masks, toys, doors, stands,
windows, wooden memorials, flower vases, bedposts and cradle
posts etc.
The important rivers like Chambal, Seep and Kuno drain the
district. The Chambal, which originates in the Indore district, forms
the northwestern boundary of Madhaya Pradesh with Rajstahan.
Rail
and
road
transport
are
common
means
of
communication. Rail or bus routes connect about 15 percent of
villages. Roads connect all the tehsil headquarters. Sheopur lies
on main trunk Nero gauge railway route of central railway joining
Gwalior.
38
General
Headquarters
Forest Area
Total Population
Sheopur
Total area
2,82,818 Sqkm Net Irri. Area
5,59,715
Total Population
(0-6 yrs.)
2,95,630
Total Females
16
Police Chowkis
2
Total Males
Police Stations
Legislative
assembly
Gram Panchayats 219
Total Villages
39
6,66,081 Sqkm
1,03,295 Sqkm
1,10,469
2,64,085
4
533

BHIND
Bhind district has 4459 Sq Kms. of area surrounded by
districts of Uttar Pradesh, Agra, Etawa, Jalon and Jhansi. Long
rivers like Chambal, Sindh, Kunwari, Pahuj and Baisali flow across
the borders. Near the banks of these rivers quotdeep forest and
ravines are situated. There are invisible difficult paths which
provide favourable circumstances for and other criminals. Many
villages of police stations Ater, Surpura, Phooph, Umri, Nayagaon,
Ron , Mihona, Lahar, Aswar, Daboh and Alampur are situated in
deep forest and banks of rivers. Due to this dacoits disappear in
the ravines after committing crimes. As the district is transference
of illegal arms is too much. This also ease dacoits to avail those
arms.
All these features encourage the dacoity problem. The
district is dominated by the Thakurs and Brahmins. These people
fight for various reasons. Almost each and every native leaves no
point to down other on either physical or mental ground. This is
just a glimpse of the dacoit problem effect on common man life.
People of Bhind depends more on agriculture. Hence land
disputes, conflicts on irrigation means, agricultural equipments,
their attention to earn living through assisting dacoits. As the
education level is also low, people are not afraid of committing
heinous crimes like murders become dacoits. Police is fighting
hard to eradicate the dacoity problem constantly for years
together. In the long history of eradication of dacoits police has set
a unique example of obedience, courage, high devotion to be
followed. The whole operation Dacoits elimination has cost lives of
many policemen. In last three decades about 500 dacoits were
40
killed even this could not weed out the problem. This is note
worthy in the year 1972 and 1982 due to police pressure and
constant trials twice the defamed dangerous dacoits have in the
Chambal area. Even before this in the year Vinoba Bhave.
Bhind is the Northernmost District of Madhya Pradesh,north
east of Gwalior, situated at 26°34'50" latitude and 78°48'05"
longitude. The district lies in the valleys of Chambal and the Sind,
between the Kunwari and the Pahuj rivers. The district spans from
25°54'5'' North to 26°47'50'' North and from 78°12'45'' East to
79°8'30'' 79°8'30'' East.
The shape of the district is semi circular, bulging towards the
north east.The greatest length of Bhind district measures about
105 km south east to north west.
The District is bounded by Agra and Etawa districts of Uttar
Pradesh in the north and Gwalior and Datia districts in the south.
The eastern boundary is closed by the districts of Etawah Auraiya
and Jalaun of Uttar Pradesh in the east, where as the western and
north western boundaries are common with Morena district. The
north western boundary is marked by the Asan and the Kunwari
rivers, the northern and eastern boundaries being traversed by the
Chambal and the Pahuj.
The entire District lies in the Chambal valley. It forms the
south western part of Ganga Valley. The Hills are only a few, small
and isolated, mostly in the south west.
It is only in the Bhind Tehsil that the rivers flow towards east.
The topology of Bhind is the topography of the valley plains. The
41
plains at present are closely cultivated fields devoid of trees,
stubbed with shrubby growth only along the moist hollows, and
thickly populated.The only divisions of topography are offered by
the network of rivers with deep channels and steep bank
The region has long been under the threat of dacoits. Even
during Mughal times the mighty and powerful administration failed
to curb the menace. The Chambal Rivr, surrounded by yawning
chasms and deep gaping beehads (Hindi-बह़, ravi provides an ideal
hideout for bandits.
The widest plane of the district lies in the western part
around Gohad, Mehgaon and Mau. The ravine lands extend along
both sides of the rivers and their tributaries. These ravins were the
ideal shelters and bypass routes of dacoits. The ravine areas are
mostly unsuitable for cultivation and settlements.
42
History of Uttar Pradesh at a Glance
Uttar Pradesh forms a major area of the Northern fertile
plain or the Indo-Gangetic plain. This area is said to have been
occupied by the group of people referred to as "Dasas" by the
Aryans.
Their
main
occupation
of
these
inhabitants
was
agriculture. Till BC 2000 the Aryans had not settled in this region. It
was through conquest that the Aryans occupied this area and laid
the foundations of a Hindu civilization. The regions of Uttar
Pradesh was said to have been the ancient Panchala country. The
great war of the Mahabharata between the Kauravas and
Pandavas was said to have been fought here. Besides the Kurus
and Panchalas the Vatsas, the Kosis, Hosalas, Videhas etc formed
the early region of Uttar Pradesh. These areas were called
Madhyadesa. It was during the Aryan inhabitation that the epics of
Mahabharata, Ramayana, the Brahamanas and Puranas were
written. During the reign of Ashoka, works for public welfare was
taken up. Having rich resources there was active trade within and
outside the country. The rule of the Magadha empire brought
Buddhism and Jainism into this region. This period witnessed
administrative and economic advancement.
The Kushanas exercised their power over this region till
320AD. The territory passed into the hands of the Guptas during
whose rule, the Huns invaded this region. After the decline of the
Guptas, the Maukharis of Kannauj gained power. During the rule of
Harshavardhana, Kannauj was an important city. After his rule
political chaso set it. It was amidst this confusion that the Muslims
invaded into Utter Pradesh though the society was dominated by
43
the Rajputs, jats and other local chiefs. In 1016AD Mahmud of
Ghazni laid his eyes on the wealth of Kannauj. He was followed by
Mohammad Ghori. Throughout the rule of the Delhi Sultanate and
the Mughals, the territory progressed. After the Mughals the Jats,
the Rohillas, and the Marathas established their rule. By 1803 the
British controlled this region and annexed it by 1856. It was in the
Uttar Pradesh (The period between 1857-58) that the first struggle
for liberation from the British yoke was unleashed. The revolt was
suppressed and from then till independence it remained under
British dominance. In 1950 the state was organised and named as
Uttar Pradesh.
Area
:
294,441Sq.Km
Capital
:
Lucknow
Language
:
Hindi
Districts
:
70
Population
:
139,112,2877
Males
:
73,745,994
Females
:
65,014,423
Literacy
:
41.71%
A part of Uttar Pradesh has been separated and formed into
a new state Uttaranchal on November 9th 2000. The details given
here are before the separation.
Uttar Pradesh is bounded by Nepal on the North, Himachal
Pradesh on the north west, Haryana on the west, Rajasthan on the
south west, Madhya Pradesh on the south and south- west and
44
Bihar on the east. Situated between 23o 52'N and 31o 28 N
latitudes and 77o 3' and 84o 39'E longitudes, this is the fourth
largest state in the country .
Physical Features
Uttar
Pradesh
can
be
divided
into
three
distinct
hypsographical regions:
The Himalayan region in the North
The Gangetic plain in the centre
The Vindya hills and plateau in the south
The Himalayan region comprises the districts of Uttarkashi,
Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Tehri-Garhwal, Garhwaland Almora and
Nainital tehsil of Nainital district and Chakrata and a part of Dehra
Dun tehsil of Dehra Dun district. High mountains formed of
sedimentary
rocks
broken
by
valleys
and
deep
gorges,
characterize the terrain. The perpetual snows in the higher
reaches are the source of perennial rivers and rivulets which crisscross the terrain and ultimately find their two rivers together with
their tributaries form a big river system which waters the entire
Gangetic plain.
The prominent peaks in the hill region include Banarpunch,
Mount Kamety, Trishul, Dunagiri, Nanda Devi, Badrinath and
Kedaranath. The hill areas are sparsely populated. Due to the
excessively nature of the terrain, soil is subject to heavy erosion.
Cultivation is done under intensive soil. Irrigation facilities are
deficient and only a small fraction of the total area is under artificial
45
irrigation. The valley area have fertile and rich soil. There is an
intensive cultivation on terraced hill slopes. The higher altitudes
are suitable for sub-tropical and temperate fruit culture. The
Siwalik range which forms the southern foothills of the Himalayas,
slopes down in to a boulder bed called 'bhadhar'. The transitional
belt running along the entire length of the state is called the terai
and bhabhar area. It has rich forests, cutting across it are
innumerable streams which swell into raging torrents during the
monsoon. The bhabhar tract gives place to the terai area which is
covered with tall elephant grass and thick forests interspersed with
marshes and swamps. The sluggish rivers of the bhabhar deepen
in this area, their course running through a tangled mass of thick
under growth. The terai runs parallel to the bhabhar in a thin strip.
The main crops are wheat, rice, and sugar cane. Jute also is
grown. Tea is grown in the sub mountain area of the Dehra Dun.
The most important area for the economy of the state is the
Gangetic plain which stretches across the entire length of the state
from east to west. The entire alluvial plain can be divide into three
sub-regions. The first in the eastern tract consisting of 14 districts
which are subject to periodical floods and droughts and have been
classified as scarcity areas. These districts have the highest
density of population which gives the lowest per capita land. The
other two regions, the central and the western are comparatively
better with a well-developed irrigation system. They suffer from
water logging and large-scale user tracts.
The Gangetic plain is watered by the Jamuna, the Ganga
and its major tributaries, the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghra
and Gandak. The whole plain is alluvial and very fertile. The chief
46
crops cultivated here are rice, wheat, millets, gram, barley Sugar
cane is the chief cash crop of the region. The Southern fringe of
the Gangetic is demarcated by the Vindhya hills and plateau. It
comprises the four districts of Jhansi, Jalaun, Banda, and
Hamirpur in Bundelkhand division, Meja and Karchhana tehsils of
Allahabad district, the whole of Mirzapur district south of Ganga
and Chakia tehsil of Varanasi district. The ground is strong with
low hills. The Betwa and Ken rivers join the Jamuna from the south
-west in this region. It has four distinct kinds of soil, two of which
are agriculturally difficult to manage. They are black cotton soil.
Rainfall is scanty and erratic and water -resources are scare. Dry
farming is practical on a large scale.
47
Major Area Captured By Dacoits in Uttar
Pradesh

KANPUR
Nestled on the banks of the eternal Ganga, Kanpur stands
as one of North India's major industrial centres with its
owhistorical, religious and commercial importance. Believed to be
founded by king Hindu Singh of the erstwhile state of Sachendi,
Kanpur was originally known as `Kanhpur'. Historically, Jajmau on
the eastern outskirts of present day Kanpur is regarded as one of
the most archaic tounships of Kanpur district.Upto the 1st half of
the 18th century Kanpur continued to survive as an insignificant
village. Its fate, however, took a new turn soon after. In May 1765,
Shuja-ud-daula, the Nawab Wazir of Awadh, was defeated by the
British near Jajmau. It was probably at this time that strategic
importance of the site of Kanpur was realised by the British.
European businessmen had by this time gradually started
establishing themselves in Kanpur. In order to ensure protection to
their lives and property the `Awadh local forces' were shifted here
in 1778. Kanpur passed into British hands under the treaty of 1801
with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh. This forms a turning point
in the history of Kanpur. Soon Kanpur became one of the most
important military stations of British India.
48

ORAI
The city of Orai was named after the sage Rishi Uddhalak
and was earlier known as Uddhalak Nagari. Orai is located midway
between kanpur and jhansi and lies on National Highway 25 which
is soon going to be a part of East-West corridor of the NHAI
Project.Its exact position is defined by 26 degree north latitude and
79 degree east longitude It is at the Altitude of 429 feet above sea
level. Climate of this place has a composite climate (very hot
during summers and very cold during winters). Relative humidity
remains about 40-50%.
Orai is well connected by road and rail. Several express and
super fast trains running from Kanpur and Lucknow towards the
southern, central and western parts of the country pass through
Orai. A large number of government and private buses connect the
city to the major towns and cities of UP as well as those of other
neighboring states. Chakeri is the nearest airport connecting Delhi
and Lucknow.
49

ETAWAH
Etawah is a city on the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar
Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah
District. The city was an important center for the Revolt of 1857
(Allan Octavian Hume, the founder of Indian National Congress
was district collector then). Also is the place of sangam or
confluence between Yamuna and Chambal. It is also the site of the
remains of the Great Hedge of India.
History
Etawah was a town and district of British India, in the Agra
division of the United Provinces. The town is situated on the left
bank of the Jumna, and has a station on the Indian Railway
(Northern Zone), 206 m. from Allahabad. Deep fissures intersect
the various quarters of the town, over which broad roads connect
the higher portions by bridges and embankments. The Jama
Masjid (Great Mosque) is the chief architectural ornament of
Etawah. Several fine Hindu temples also stand about the mound
on which are the ruins of the ancient fort. Etawah is now only the
civil headquarters of the district, the military cantonment having
been abandoned in 1861. Considerable trade is carried on by rail
and river. The manufactures include cotton cloth, skin-bottles,
combs and horn-ware and sweetmeats.
The District Of Etawah has an area of 1691 sq. M. It forms a
purely artificial administrative division, stretching across the level
plain of the Doab, and beyond the valley of the Jumna, to the
gorges of the Chambal, and the last rocky outliers of the Vindhyan
range. The district exhibits a striking variety of surface and
50
scenery. The greater portion lies within the Doab or level alluvial
plain between the Ganges and the Jumna. This part falls naturally
into two sections, divided by the deep and fissured valley of the
river Sengar. The tract to the north-east of that stream is rich and
fertile, being watered by the Kanpur and Etawah branches of the
Ganges canal, and other important works. The south-western
region has the same natural advantages, but possesses no great
irrigation system, and is consequently less fruitful than the
opposite slopes. Near the banks of the Jamuna, the plain
descends into the river valley by a series of wild ravines and
terraces, inhabited only by a scattered race of hereditary
herdsmen. Beyond the Jamuna, a strip of land extends along the
tangled gorges of the Chambal and the Kuari Nadi, far into the
borders of the Gwalior state. This outlying tract embraces a series
of rocky glens and mountain torrents, crowned by the ruins of
native strongholds, and interspersed with narrow ledges of
cultivable alluvium. The climate, once hot and sultry, has now
become comparatively moist and equable under the influence of
irrigation and the planting of trees.
Etawah was marked out by its physical features as a secure
retreat for the turbulent tribes of the Upper Doab, and it was not till
the 12th century that any of the existing castes settled on the soil.
After the Mussulman conquests of Delhi and the surrounding
country, the Hindus of Etawah appear to have held their own for
many generations against the Mahommedan power; but in the
16th century Baber conquered the district, with the rest of the
Doab, and it remained in the hands of the Moguls until the decay
of their empire. After passing through the usual vicissitudes of
51
Mahratta and Jat conquests during the long anarchy which
preceded the British rule, Etawah was annexed by the wazir of
Oudh in 1773. The wazir ceded it to the East India Company in
1801, but it still remained so largely in the hands of lawless native
chiefs that some difficulty was experienced in reducing it to orderly
government. During the First War of Independence in 1857 serious
disturbances occurred in Etawah, and the district was occupied by
the Freedom Fighters from June to December; order was not
completely restored till the end of 1858. The district is partly
watered by branches of the Ganges canal, and is traversed
throughout by the main line of the Indian railway (Northern zone)
from Kanpur to Agra. Cotton, oilseeds, Ghee and other agricultural
produce and a special bread of goat and buffalo are exported.
Region has a 652MW Natural Gas based power generation plant
however lacks manufacturing industries.
Geography
Etawah is located at 26.77° N 79.03° E[1]. It has an average
elevation of 139 metres (456 feet).
Demographics
As of 2001 India censusGRIndia, Etawah had a population of
211,460. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%.
Etawah has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the
national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72%, and female
literacy is 61%. In Etawah, 14% of the population is under 6 years
of age.
52
Introduction to Chambal Valley
Gwalior has been
the 'nerve-center' of a
flourishing
civilization
prospering on the banks
of the river Chambal.
The
River
steep
itself
Chambal
offers
a
pretty natural panorama
and making you feel as if history is flowing past you. Your
imagination runs wild. You can feel the presence of fierce warriors,
daring dacoits and hardened people. However, in spite of all its
ruggedness, the Chambal valley has ever been inviting to mankind
since time immemorial. While at one end the labyrinths of the
valley have been providing shelter to the rebels, on the other hand
the pure icy cold water of Chambal river has instilled zeal and
vivacity in the natives of this regions. Bordering with the states of
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the Chambal belt of Northern
Madhya Pradesh is full of zigzagged ravines providing safe
shelters to inter-state gangs of dacoits which mainly indulge in
abductions for ransom. A journey through this valley reveals great
secrets of this old civilization. The whole Chambal valley abounds
in archeological legacies and only in Morena district there are no
less
than
60
archeologically
significant
sites.
All
these
archeological sites lie in the range of 40 Kms. from Gwalior. The
archaeological remains of Chambal lie in the range of 40 Km. from
Gwalior, easily accessible by road. The drive from Gwalior to the
Chambal river takes a little more than half an hour. However, since
53
the entire Chambal area is notorious for dacoits and robbers'
gangs, safety in traveling must be ensured beforehand.
According to the latest research, the most ancient place in
Gwalior-Chambal region has been the Kutwar village of Morena.
The place is associated with Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas.
Some 3000 years ago the "Nag" kings had established their
capitals in this place and potteries and coins of the "Nag" kings are
found from this place. The dam of Kutwar was built by the Scindia
and adds to the charm of this beauteous spot. Cunningham has
hailed this place as the most ancient capital of Gwalior. In olden
times, this place was known by numerous names. In the Age of
Mahabharat, this was famous by the name of Kuntibhoj. King
Kuntibhoj was the father of Kunti. According to Vincent Smith and
other historians, the era between 2nd Century A.D. to the middle of
4th Century A.D. saw the rule of the "Nag" clan from Mathura to
upper Narmada part. The "Nag" kings established their capitals in
Mathura, Kantipuri (Kuntibhoj) and Padmavati. In the scriptures of
the "Puranas" there are ample testimonies of the Nag clan and the
areas ruled by them such as Padmavati, Mathura and Kantipuri. All
these places were under Kutwar. Noted archaeologist Alexander
Cunningham lived in Gwalior for 5 years and, later, he was
appointed as the Chief Director of the Archaeology Dept. during
1860-1885. He had visited the villages of Kutwar and Sihonia and
in his archaeological report of 1864-65 (Vol. 2) he wrote that
people also called this place Kuntalpur. He found beautifully
engraved stones and old architectural remains scattered far and
near. He thus concluded that "this is a very old place and must be
existing in the Mahabharata Age in some 5400 B.C."
54
Most important of the sites in Chambal are a series of
ancient temples and monuments. Most of them have been reduced
to ruins while still a number of them have withheld the bolt of time
and stand erect with all their splendors. Some of these places
were even 'centers of learning' in the past - now buried deep down
in the grave of time. For example, the circular temple of Mitawali,
built in the likeness of Indian parliament house - "Sansad Bhawan"
- apparently seems to be a temple of 64 'Yogini', according to
some scholars, this was the center of astrological studies.
Chambal in Past
During the earlier
periods, in some districts
of
Madhya
Pradesh,
55
mothers are routinely compelled to murder female infants by
placing a charpoy's leg on the child's neck. This is the brutal
method adopted for several decades in hundreds of villages in the
state's Bhind, Morena and a few neighboring districts, where the
desire for male offspring is overwhelming.
Sadly, the hundreds of offenders in these districts are
parents themselves. The sonography machine has assumed a key
role and female foeticide is a thriving business.
During a just-concluded tour organized by the Press
Information Bureau, a team of journalists learnt that such crimes
have assumed the dimensions of a social evil and, consequently,
the gender balance in Morena and Bhind has taken a body blow.
In some villages of Morena, there are as few as 400 to 700
females for every 1,000 males. In fact, no baraat has entered
these villages for 20 years.
The political system and administrative machinery have their
own perception of this problem. Careful about their vote banks,
political leaders refrain from saying or doing anything against this,
while officials hesitate to take any open initiative as it considers the
mass slaughter a 'social' issue.
Not too many dacoits are left in the ravines of Chambal
(Madhya Pradesh) but the terror still persists - for little girls.
Another problem which has captured Chambal was dacoit
gang. Chambal had dangerous and operating gang in past. These
dacoits did not had any place of shelter and hence compel and
56
threatens villagers to provide them place to stay and other
necessities .These dacoits were also terror for little girl child. As
villagers have to survive with their big family and have to serve
dacoit
in
little
income,
which
became
difficult
for
them
economically. And hence they treated them as economic burden.
Girl child was treated as liability on its birth itself and this thought
has been held strongly by dacoits of that period.
This threat can be traced to the falling sex ratio of the region.
While the national average of women per 1,000 men is 933, and
the state's figure is 920, the Chambal region shockingly has only
400 women per 1,000 men in some villages. This, despite a twoand-a-half fold increase in the district's population over the last five
decades, and the PNDT Act (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
[Regulation and Prevention of Misuse] Act) having come into force
in 1994.
The main reason for the grim sex ratio is the practice of
female infanticide and female feticide. Sachin Kumar Jain of Right
to Food Campaign, an NGO working in the area, says that this
practice stems from the desire for a male child and the belief that a
girl child is an economic burden. The flourishing of sex
determination facilities under the veil of ultrasound or sonography
clinics has only made the gender-specific killings more definite.
Ironically, the purpose of the PNDT Act is to prevent the
misuse of such pre-natal diagnostic techniques for the purpose of
pre-natal sex determination leading to female feticide. Every
offence under this Act is 'cognisable, non-bailable and noncompoundable'.
57
Yet, despite the legal deterrent, Chambal seems to tremble
at nothing less than a dacoit.
Take the case of Morena district. In addition to the around 14
private nursing homes in the district, there are an estimated 23
sonography centers as well. The district administration had issued
show cause notices to many clinics for violating the PNDT Act. In
some cases, licenses were cancelled, but a few managed to get
their licenses renewed.
A recent study conducted by the state's Department of
Woman and Child Development throws light on just how grim the
situation is in Madhya Pradesh. According to the study, the sex
ratio in 50 villages of Morena district is between 509 and 800 per
1,000 men. In 18 villages of Porsa, it is between 716 and 800. In
24 villages of Sabalgarh, it is between 631 and 800. In 70 villages
of Jaura, the ratio is between 458 and 800. In 41 villages of
Kelaras, it is between 382 and 800. In 39 villages of Pahargarh, it
is between 384 and 800, while in 55 villages of Ambah, the sex
ratio is between 448 and 800 per 1,000 men.
Says Akash Tripathi, District Collector, and Morena: "The
falling number of girls is alarming. In some places the number of
girls is startlingly low. If the same trend persists, the day is not far
when there will be no girls left at all." According to reports, in the
village of Sihori (Morena district), of the 26 children born in the last
year, surprisingly only six were girls.
Female infanticide is also a contributing factor in birth of
women dacoits. There were more female child and there death
58
was also at the same rate .New born baby’s mothers were not
even given chance to see the face of their child .this has given
them a feelings of aggression and these feelings have burnt into
crimes and birth of criminals. There have been cases where
families have stuffed the tiny mouth of a newborn girl with tobacco
or salt. Others have not let the new mother nurse the hungry child.
The administration plans to tackle the mindset and disturbing
sex ratio is by encouraging religious leaders to speak to
communities.
At a meeting of the State Supervisory Board formed under
the PNDT Act, Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi
directed that cases against sonography centers engaged in sex
determination should be directly filed in court so that erring centers
could be punished at the earliest. He also said that it was
mandatory for institutions registered under the PNDT Act to submit
records with the Chief Medical and Health Officer every month,
and that strict action should be taken against those not complying
with the rules.
Meanwhile, several NGOs are working in the area of
advocacy by organizing street plays in villages to inform people
about the importance of the girl child. It remains to be seen
whether all these initiatives bear fruit - and allow female fetuses
and infant girls to flower.
Living in the gun's shadow
59
It is perhaps in the region's water. Chambal -- spread over
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, has always been
a heaven for bandits.
Despite repeated efforts by respective State Governemnts
banditry was never stamped out completely though it has definitely
witnessed its crests and troughs.
There is no dearth of fuel to add to the fire. Caste politics,
land disputes, unemployment, other socio economic factors and a
sheer lack of political will to tackle the problem have prepared a
fertile ground for the growth of banditry.
Various gangs were operating the region involved in the
abduction-for-ransom business.
A feudal system hardly made way for any land reforms in the
region and women are treated as little more than commodities,
social analysts say.
Thus, when the bullets of SSP Akhil Kumar's STF team and
Uttar Pradesh Police personnel felled bandit chieftain Nirbhay
Gujjar on the night of 7 November 2006, the valiant endeavour
may well prove to be a pebble against a sandstorm.
Chambal's peculiar topography is also cut out for the task.
The spaces between the treacherous ravines are at places large
enough to conceal an entire gang or so small that even a boy
would find it hard to squeeze through.
Therefore, knowledge of the terrain becomes paramount for
police teams that hope to find success in Chambal, where the
60
Dayaram-Rambabu Gadaria gang -- of Bhanwarpura fame -- still
prowls. Other gangs include Rajasthan's Vakila Gujjar and Uttar
Pradesh's Jagjivan Parihar. The Gadarias stand accused of more
than 150 crimes and carry a reward running into lakhs of rupees.
The trijunction of states and the Chambal River make it easy
for dacoits to cross borders while under police pressure.
Earlier, regional satraps supported banditry for their own
narrow gains.
Earlier, the bandits were primarily Rajputs but now even
members of the 'oppressed' dalits and Backward Classes have
picked up the gun.
Interestingly, Man Singh apparently never indulged in wine
and women unlike Nirbhay who married no less than four women
Seema Parihar, Munni Pande, Parvati -- whom he "purchased" -and Neelam Gupta.
In Chambal, a dacoit is known as a 'bagi' (rebel) and an
abducted person termed 'pakad' (the catch).
The fertile region is known for cultivation of mustard that
feeds a tear gas unit, located within BSF Academy at Tekanpur
and the sole such facility in Asia.
"Where administration falters, people feel that bandits are
actually benefactors," says a senior journalist with decades of
experience in central India.
61
An open jail for surrendered dacoits was set up at Guna
district's Mungawli but had to be shut down as the inmates not only
escaped but were also used to bully prison officials. In fact, several
surrendered bandits have joined the real estate and eviction
businesses.
Contrary to the Bollywood images of rifle-wielding dacoits
thundering on horseback, the terrain is so inhospitable that even
negotiating it on a bicycle might prove an insurmountable
challenge. The bandits move furtively and on foot.
The dacoits are a 'decisive factor' in elections as was
witnessed during the recent panchayat poll in Uttar Pradesh.
Additional DGP S S Shukla, who heads anti-dacoity
operations in MP,said, "over the past few days we have begun
receiving information of the Gadaria gang's movements. An
encounter took place within Shivpuri's Bhauti Police Station limits
on October 3."
The officer pointed out differences in the modus operandi of
Nirbhay and the Gadarias.
"Nirbhay was habituated to staying at one place for long but
the Gadarias' movement is rapid. Besides, the latter do not repose
blind faith in their informers," he added.
"With Gujjar gone, we can now devote maximum time to the
Gadarias. The Nirbhay gang's members might try to join the
Gadarias and we are trying to prevent that," said Bhind's DSP Amit
Verma.
62
Among the bandits who made the region live in the rifle's
shadow, the most prominent was the Rajput Man Singh,
neutralised in a police encounter way back in 1955. The gang's
mantle was eventually assumed by his foster son Roopnarayan
Sharma alias Roopa.
On October 29, 2004, there occurred a carnage that shocked
entire Madhya Pradesh, gave Gwalior district's Bhanwarpura
village a dubious prominence in police records and proved a
chilling reminder of the 1981 Behmai massacre when Phoolan
Devi's blood 1-1 thirsty crew mowed down 20 people belonging to
Thakurs community in a horrific revenge killing that suddenly made
war the 'Bandit Queen' India's most wanted criminal.
Emerging from months-long dormancy, the Gadaria gang
gunned down 13 innocent residents of Bhanwarpura village in a
forest around the Goreghat Hanuman temple.
Initial reports stated that the victims were suspected of being
informers but police later admitted that the villagers might have
been indirect victims of a conspiracy. (UNI)
Seema, Lovely, Nandi, Kusuma, and Sheila. Names would
not ring a bell unless one is told that they are generation next of
Bandit Queen Breed. These ladies used automatic guns, actually
kill and now decide the poll outcome in 12 districts of Chambal
Valley.
The problem of dacoits in Chambal Valley:-
63
The Chambal valley with peculiar topography added with
ravines, at the intersection of three states (namely, Madhya
pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar pradesh) makes it a breeding
ground for. outlaws, who escape from one state to the other once
identified and chased by the police.
In the region dacoity is directly linked to ravine formation.
The ravines of Chambal spoiling the land, the life is getting tougher
for every one. There is no employment opportunity and the only
occupation farming, too becoming impossible with not much land is
available to cultivate. The 20-50 feet deep ravines provide good
hideout to the dacoits therefore harbors many outlaws. It is a
paradox in the Chambal valley; dacoits are born because the land
is ravined, and it is the ravines, which sustain them, giving them
cover. Another disheartening trend that developed in the region
recently, is the kidnapping the persons from weaker section, is not
many well to do people left in the villages. The main occupation is
the farming, the people have to be out most of the time, and they
become the easy targets. As such ravine affected area of these
three states in the Chambal Region, have a dominance of weaker
section and backward social classes.
64
Chambal Valley at Present
Henceforth, the citizens in India and abroad would be able to
enjoy the natural beauty of Chambal and not the terror of Dacoits.
The forest department has set its mind toward water sports and
the MP Eco Tourism Development Board has given sanction to it.
The department has sanctioned two routes of boat and
cruise.
The Chambal region is famous for its natural beauty and now
the tourism would be developed here. Forest department with a
view to develop Eco tourism had sent proposals one year back in
which boat and cruise were also included.
MP Tourism department had also such desire that the
tourists who visit Agra and Ranthambhour also visit here in
Chambal region and return to Gwalior.
Eco Tourism Development has given permission to sail boats
and cruise from Pali to Rameshwar and Rajghat to Rithaura Kalan.
Different
kinds
of
water
animals come here in which river
dolphin,
aligator,
crocodile
and
tortoises are found. In winter more
than hundred species of migrant
animals come here.
The TDC is seeking a lot of eco-tourism possibilities and the
two routes which have been selected would help in development of
tourism.
65
The tourists not only can see the water animals but would
also play water games.
It is yet not decided how many boats and cruise would be
sailed here.
The
forest
department with a
view
to
success
give
to
scheme
recruit
this
would
such
guides who would
be educated and
having knowledge
about
the
biological
differences.
Private
investment would
also be encouraged in this connection the local businessmen
would be called for meeting. The businessmen of Agra,
Ranthambhaur and Gwalior would be called to invest money.
Other Places of Interest in and around Chambal
There are many other interesting places in Chambal - all
explorable especially for those who have an interest in
archeology.
Dubkund
66
Dubkund is a place worth seeing in the midst of the rivers
Chambal and Kuno, situated in a dense forest. It is 76 miles south
to Gwalior. In this same tribal region abounding in hills and jungles,
the Kachhapghats established their kingdom in the end of the 10th
Century. In some historic inscriptions, Dubkund is also mentioned
as Dobh. One of the water reservoirs of this place are full of waters
all the year round and hence the name Dobhkund or Dubkund. An
ancient Jain Temple and a temple of Har-Gauri are important spots
worth seeing. The Jain temple built on a platform 3 feet high and
with 81 feet diameter is quite big even though only the lower
structure and pillars remain at present. According to the
inscriptions, the Temple existed in the Vikrami Era of 1152.
Dubkund
abounds
in
the
images
of
the
"Teerthankars",
"Vidyadhars" and other statues related with "Shaiv" and "Vaishnav"
sects.
Padavali
There is a beautiful temple built on the fortress of Padavali
and it is even superior to the Temple of Khajuraho from an
architectural point of view. The natives of Padavali call it "Garhi" or
small fortress. The temple abounds in the depictions of Ram Leela,
Krishna Leela, Mahabharat, the 10 incarnations of God Vishnu,
Samudra Manthan, Marriage of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva dancing
in the cemetery in Preta form and hundreds of other Hindu gods
and goddesses. They all look so novel as if they were built just
recently. Like Khajuraho, this temple, too, remains intact in the
passage of time. What is even more interesting is that there are
some erotic images, too, in the temple which is an exceptional
67
aspect
of
such
an
indigenous
temple.
Bateshwar
The Bateshwar valley is situated one and a half kilometer
from Padavali. There are more than a hundred temples in the
valley but most of them worn and torn. There are even two water
ponds providing drinking and bathing water and the scenery
around is quite fascinating. People say that these statues are not
human made but rather they were created by Mother Nature
herself.
Kanakmath
Some 20 K.M. from Kutwar, in the village of Sehonia, there is
the famous "Kanakmath" Temple. This temple of some 1000 years
ago is built in a chariot shape and the marvel is that stones are
pyramidized together - one upon the other - without applying any
cement, clay or lime. Tourists are dumbfounded to see this 100 ft.
high piece of marvel. Around the temple there are statues of Hindu
gods and goddesses and the dancing Ganesh is prominent of
them. Sehonia is also a scared place for the followers of the Jain
religion.
Shaneechara
The Temple of Saturn (Shaneechara) is situated 5 Km. from
Rithorakalan. This 800 years old temple is perhaps the only temple
in India dedicated to the horrifying deity, Saturn. Saturn is said to
be the most powerful and influential planet of the universe -
68
affecting everyone's life. It is believed that if someone offers at this
temple black cloths, iron nails, oil, etc. especially on Saturday, it
minimizes the wrath of Saturn and yields a favorable effect.
Nareshar
Some 15 Km. from Gwalior, we can visit the Nareshar Hills.
On the hill there is a picturesque water pond and several temples
built over a thousand years ago. Here we also find weapons and
paintings of the Homo Sapiens (the pre-historic human race).
There are many other places in the Chambal valley which
are always attracting to the tourists. There are more than a
hundred temples in the valley though most of them worn and torn.
The scenery is so beautiful as if one is roaming in the paradise.
These are only some descriptions. As a matter of fact, the whole
Chambal is a treasurer of ancient legacies only if you are anxious
to explore.
69
National Chambal (Gharial) Wildlife Sanctuary
The Chambal river
remains
one of
North
India's most unpolluted
rivers, home to a rich
diversity
of
flora
and
fauna. National Chambal
(Gharial)
Wildlife
Sanctuary is famous for the rare Ganges river dolphin. The
sanctuary was founded in 1978 and is part of a large area coadministered by Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
within area of 5,400 km². Approximately 400 km of the river is
within the reserve. Apart from the Ganges river Dolphin, the other
inhabitants of the sanctuary include magar (crocodile and Gharial
(alligator Migratory birds from Siberia form its rich avian fauna.
Gandhi Sagar Dam
The Gandhi Sagar dam lies on the Chambal in Neemuch
District of Madhya Pradesh. It meets the requirements of hydropower generation at Gandhi Sagar dam Rana Pratap Sagar dam
and Jawahar sagar and for annual irrigation of 5668.01 square
kilometres in the commands of the right main canal and the left
main canal of the Kota Barrage
70
Chambal In Future
There
programmes
have
in
been
past
for
reclamation of ravines and
dacoits
in
the
troubled
intersection of three states.
Nothing
has
worked
satisfactorily, except that in
case
of
dacoits
the
intervention of Gandhian leaders helped in the surrender and
reformation of a few dreaded outlaws in the Chambal valley in the
early 1970s.
At one time, the Madhya Pradesh government had mooted a
plan of leveling the ravines using bulldozers. The state alone has a
311 thousands hectares of ravine, the plan proved to be quixotic.
In year 1980, another project of aerial seeding in the ravines, was
introduced to raise 12000 hectares of forest every year. Aerial
seeding, carried out for some time, could not meet the target. The
plant the thorny ACACIA species heightened the agony of those
living in the area as the new thorn forest made access to villages
more difficult besides damaging the quality of the soil further.
Fodder problem, too, got aggravated, as the new bushes
suppressed the existing local vegetation.
Development Initiative
71
Ravines
are
not
an
invincible
or
insurmountable
phenomenon. They can be challenged with the help of new policy
perspectives and with the active support of villagers. The key
approach, however, pursuing the idea of reclaiming the ravines
using contour bunding and vegetative measures was not easy.
People had a strong feeling that the only way for developing lands
is 'land leveling’, which would have been quite a costly affair. Only
after seeing the results of work done by few progressive farmers,
people will come forward for taking up conservation measures.
Approach of the project should be to build capacities of people,
reclaim the ravine lands, recharge water and utilize it for irrigation
on an equitable basis.
People organized themselves into various groups. Village
Watershed Committees (VWCs) are village level organizations
represented by the project participants. Women have organized
themselves with the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and also
represented the VWCs. People started sharing the ground water
developing the Water User Groups (WUGs). Ridge to valley
approach was adopted for treatment to the micro watersheds.
Following measures were adopted for treatment:

Development of vegetation covers in deep ravine areas.

Contour bunding across the slope to consen'e the rainwater
in-situ and stop soil erosion in medium ravines. Developing
grass cover for protecting the bunds.

Gully control using earthen bunds/plugs with vegetation
cover on them.

Masonry and composite check dams for water harvesting
and recharge.
72

Improved agriculture and use of locally produced organic
fertilizers.
With the above measures, the process of ravine formation has
stopped. Measures for in-situ moisture conservation and soil
fertility improvement have resulted in improving land quality and
good stand of crops.
Most of the large rivers of the country pass through the
territories of two or more States. In many cases, soil conservation
measures are necessary in one State in which the catchment area
of the river is-located while areas receiving irrigation or flood
control benefits are located in other States. Soil conservation
measures in such cases can be effective only with the cooperative
effort of all the States concerned, and if suitable arrangements arc
made for financial contribution towards the cost of these measures
by states, which would receive benefits from the projects.
73
Socio Economic Indicators of Chambal Region
S.No. Indicator
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Unit
State
of Chambal
Madhya
Region
Pradesh
Population
No.
60385118
3573930
Rural Population
Percentage 73.33
78.45
Density of Population
Persons
196
282
per
100
sqkm
Female population
No.
per 927
845
100 male
Literacy
Percentage 64.08
60
Geographical Area
Sq.km.
307450
16140
Forest Area
Sq.km.
88090
3430
Agricultural sown area
Percent
49
46
Ratio of irrigated area to Percent
45
28
sown area
Production of food grain
Thousand 152471
942.8
metric
tonnes
Total irrigated area
Sq.km.
56690
4000
Production of Food grains Thousands 152471
943
metric
tones
Gross value of Agricultural USD
per 2500
600
products
Hectare
Gross value of agriculture USD
113400
7150
production
74
To understand the reason and causes of birth of women
dacoits in the areas of M.P. and U.P., it was essential to undertake
the detailed case study of the life of different women dacoits.
Hence for the same purpose we have undertaken. The elaborative
case study of Phoolan Devi, seema Parihar, Neelam Gupta
,Ganga Pandey, Kusma Nayan, lovely Pandey, Imam Begum,
Manorama .etc
Details study of their life right from their birth to their death or
surrenderence gave us the clear picture as to why women took up
arm and became dacoit and as to what should be the measures to
irredicate the impact on the society.
75
A case study of Phoolan Devi 'The Bandit Queen"
Born
August 10, 1963 Gorha Ka Purwa, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died
July 25, 2001 New Delhi, India
Occupation Dacoit (Bandit), Politician
Spouse
Ummed Singh
Phoolan Devi was born on August 10, 1963 and finished her life
journey
on July 25, 2001, who was popularly known as "The
Bandit Queen," was an Indian dacoit, who later turned politician.
Early life
Phoolan Devi was born into a family of the
shudra sub-caste of boatmen called mallah in the
small village of Gorha Ka Purwa, Uttar Pradesh,
India. At 11 years of age she was married to a
widower 20 years elder to
her (or maybe three times
her age). Her husband used to rape her and
mistreat her. Later, he abandoned her and
sent her back to her village. Her family also
disowned her. Another version of her
biography, most probably mythical, says
that she was arrested in a family land
dispute involving her father and upper-caste
landlords. According to this version, as a consequence of the
dispute, she was arrested and later raped by the policemen.
76
Dacoit career
In the late 1970s, a gang of dacoits
abducted Phoolan. The gang leader, Baboo,
who was an upper-caste Thakur, wanted to
rape her. However, she was protected by
Vikram, the deputy leader of the gang who
belonged to Phoolan's caste, Mallah. One
night
when
Baboo
attempted
to
rape
Phoolan, Vikram killed him and assumed the
gang leadership. Phoolan became Vikram's
second wife. The gang ransacked the village
where Phoolan's husband lived. Phoolan
stabbed her estranged husband, and dragged him in front of the
villagers. Then, the gang left him laying near death by a road, with
a note as a warning for old men who marry young girls.
Phoolan Devi learnt how to use a rifle from Vikram, and
participated in the gang's activities, which consisted of ransacking
high-caste villages and kidnapping upper-caste landowners for
ransom. After every crime, Phoolan Devi would visit a Durga
temple and thank the goddess for her protection. The gang hid out
in the Chambal ravine.
Later, Vikram's friend and Shri Ram, another dacoit, got out
of jail and claimed the leadership of the gang. Shri Ram belonged
to the Thakur caste, and would make sexual advances towards
Phoolan. This led to tensions between Shri Ram and Vikram, who
made him apologize to Phoolan. When the gang would ransack a
village, Shri Ram would beat and insult the Mallahs. This
77
displeased the Mallahs in the gang, many of whom left the gang.
When Shri Ram got a dozen Thakurs to join the gang, Vikram
suggested the gang be divided into two, but Shri Ram refused.
Shortly afterwards, Shri Ram and other Thakur members in the
gang attempted to kill Phoolan and Vikram, who managed to
escape. However, later they successfully killed Vikram Mallah,
abducted Phoolan and locked her up in the Behmai village[1].
Phoolan Devi was raped by many men in Behmai. After three
weeks, she managed to escape with two other Mallahs from
Vikram's gang, helped by a lower-caste villager. She gathered a
gang of Mallahs, that she led with Man Singh, a member of
Vikram's former gang. The gang carried out a series of violent
robberies in north and central India, mainly targeting upper-caste
people. Some say that Phoolan Devi targeted only the upper-caste
people and shared the loot with the lower-caste people, but the
Indian authorities insist this is a myth.
Seventeen months after her escape from Behmai, Phoolan
returned to the village, to take her revenge. On February 14, 1981,
Phoolan and her gang marched into the Behmai village, dressed
as police officers. The Thakukrs in the village were preparing for a
wedding. The gang demanded that her kidnappers be produced,
along with all the valuables in the village. Details of what exactly
happened are not available, but Phoolan is said to have
recognized two men who earlier had sexually assaulted her and
murdered her lover. When Phoolan's gang failed to find all the
kidnappers after an exhaustive search, she ordered her gang
members to line up all the Thakur men in the village and shoot
them. The dacoits opened fire and killed twenty-two Thakur men,
78
most of whom were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Later,
Phoolan Devi claimed that she herself didn't kill anybody in Behmai
-- all the killings were carried out by her gang members.
The Behmai massacre was followed by a massive police
manhunt that failed to locate Phoolan Devi. V. P. Singh, the then
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, resigned in the wake of the
Behmai killings. Phoolan Devi began to be called the Bandit
Queen. Dolls of Phoolan Devi dressed as Hindu goddess Durga
were sold in market towns in Uttar Pradesh. She was glorified by
much of the Indian media.
Surrender and jail term
Even two years after the Behmai
massacre, the police weren't able to
capture Phoolan Devi. The Indira Gandhi
Government decided to negotiate a
surrender. By this time, Phoolan Devi
was in poor health and most of her gang
members were dead. In February 1983,
she
agreed
to
surrender
to
the
authorities. However, she said that she
didn't trust the Uttar Pradesh police and insisted that she would
only surrender to the Madhya Pradesh Police. She also insisted
that she would lay down her arms only before Mahatma Gandhi
and Goddess Durga, not to the police. She also put following
conditions:

She should not get death penalty
79

Her gang members should not get more than eight years in
the prison

Her brother should be given a government job

Her father should receive a plot of land

Her entire family should be escorted by the police to her
surrender ceremony
An unarmed police chief met her at a hiding place in the
Chambal ravines. They walked their way to Bhind, where she laid
her rifle before the portraits of Gandhi and Goddess Durga. The
onlookers included a crowd of around 10,000 people and 300
police officers. Three hundred police were waiting to arrest her and
other members of her gang who surrendered at the same time.
Phoolan Devi was charged with 48 crimes, including thirty
charges of dacoity (banditry) and kidnapping. Her trial was delayed
for eleven years, which she served in the prison. During this
period, she was operated on for ovarian cysts and ended up with
an involuntary hysterectomy. She was finally released on parole in
1994. Then she launched Eklavya Sena, a group that was aimed
at teaching lower caste people the art of self-defense. She married
Umaid Singh, her sister's husband and a New Dehli business
contractor.
Film and autobiography
Shekhar Kapur made a movie Bandit Queen (1994) on
Phoolan Devi's life up through her 1983 surrender. Although
Phoolan Devi is a heroine in the film, she fiercely disputed its
accuracy and fought to get it banned in India. She even threatened
to immolate herself outside a theater if the film were not withdrawn.
80
Eventually,
she
settled
a
suit
against the filmmakers for about
$60,000.
The film
brought
her
international recognition. At this
time, she was re-indicted for murder
and other charges.
Though she was illiterate,
Phoolan composed her autobiography titled The Bandit Queen of
India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey From Peasant to
International Legend, with help of two international authors, MarieTherese Cuny and Paul Rambali.
Political career
In 1996, Phoolan Devi ran for a seat in the
Parliament as a Samajwadi Party candidate.
During her election campaign, she was criticized
by the women widowed in the Behmai massacre.
Kshatriya
Swabhimaan
Andolan
Samanvay
Committee (KSASC), a Kshatriya organization,
held a statewide campaign to protest against her.
Nevertheless, Phoolan Devi was elected as an Member of
Parliament (MP). However, she proved ineffective as an MP[1]. She
got a train stopped at unscheduled stops to meet her
acquaintances in Uttar Pradesh. The railway minister, Ram Vilas
Paswan played down the train incident and ordered only a nominal
enquiry. Once, she visited the Gwalior jail (where she was
imprisoned) to meet her former inmates. When the jail officers
didn't let her in due to the visiting hours rules, she abused them.
81
Later, a suspension order was issued against the jail officials
involved in the incident, without any explanation.
In 1998, Phoolan Devi was nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize by some members of the British Parliament. She lost a bid
for re-election in 1998, but was returned to office the following
year.
Assassination
On July 25, 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead as she got
out of her car at the gate of her New Delhi residence. The
assailants also wounded her bodyguard, and escaped in an auto
rickshaw.
The murder accused are
Sher Singh Rana, Dheeraj Rana
and Rajbir. Sher Singh Rana
allegedly
surrendered
in
Dehradun. He confessed to the
murder, saying he was avenging
the deaths of 22 Kshatriyas at
Behmai. He escaped from Tihar Jail in 2004, but was captured in
April 2006 from Kolkata and sent to Rohini Jail, Delhi. The same
year, the KSASC decided to honor Rana for "upholding the dignity
of the Kshatriya community" and "drying the tears of the widows of
Behmai".
On January 19, 2007, Balender Singh, Phoolan's personal
security officer who had been wounded and is an eye-witness,
identified Dheeraj and Sher Singh as the people who had fired on
82
him and Phoolan respectively. Balender Singh is set to be crossexamined on February 2, 2007.
83
A case study of Seema Parihar
Early Life
Seema Parihar was born in small
village, Babayan in Etawah district in the
family of Shri Shiromani Singh. Her mother
name was Smt. Indraji.
Seema's
farther
had
a
small
departmental store & was owner of nearly 4
cows & goats. He uses to sell the milk of
cows & goat for his family livelihood.
Seema's father's elder brother had lands & wealth but nobody
helped Seema's father. Born in Babayan village in Etawah district
of Uttar Pradesh, Seema was a pawn in the running feud between
her father and the local Gujar over a plot of land. The Gujjars
insisted that her father should give his four daughters in marriage
to them. But he declined, saying no one from their community ever
married the Gujjars. Gradually, suitable matches were found for
three of my sisters and Seema was the only one left unmarried.
Every Holi, Seema Parihar cringes at the thought of playing
with colours. It was this day some 22 years back when she was
suddenly wrenched away from her close-knit family and thrown
into a world of greedy, lustful men. An event that irrevocably
changed the course of her life forever. "I still have nightmares
recalling that day," says Seema Parihar.
When Seema was 13 years old, one day son of Ghambeer
singh, Raghvendra came to Seema's house. Raghvendra was
84
dressed up as Groom. That time Seema was alone at home. They
started shouting, "Open the door"; we want to marry your daughter.
This carried on for long two hours & after that they went back
home without any solution. Later on, when in evening Seema's
mother told everything to her father, listening to all that happened
he became aggressive & started to Police Station to register a
complaint against Gambheer Singh & his son in police station. But
was stopped in between by Thakur Uttar Singh by a promise that if
some thing happens next time, then he himself will lodge a
complaint.
After nearly 2 months, Gambheer Singh came into contact of
Chambal valley's Lalaram singh Gang & employed them to kidnap
Seema. After their contact, soon Seema was kidnapped by Lala
ram singh gang from her home.She was thrown into a dingy hut
and raped repeatedly over the next few days. Lala Ram then
forced her to marry one Fakkad Baba, another dacoit, who was old
enough to be her father.
Irrespective of her family member helpless attempts she was
taken away. She was kidnapped in year 1983.
Soon after her Kidnapping, her father went to Register a
report in Police Station, but to his disappointment, Shri Gambhir
Singh was already sitting there & Seema Father's report could not
be lodged.
Seema was the first lady who was kidnapped in Chambal
Valley.
Dacoit Career
85
After crying & protesting against dacoit gang for 2 month,
she had to adopt dacoity forcefully. She was involved by gang
leader Lala ram Singh & Kusma Nayan in all crimes done by them.
After passing away of nearly four month she was told that
“Seema you have been disowned by your family & police has
behaved rashly with your mother a lot of times, made Seema
aggressive & she look up arms.
She took up dacoity on her own interest. Her gang use to
travel 60 – 70kms daily night. They had starved days & nights.
They could not find a place to stay also, but nothing stopped
Seema.
Thus a sequence of events that led to her finally taking the
reigns of a gang and let loose a rein of terror in the region. Her writ
ran from Etawah, Agra, and Kanpur to Bhind and Morena in Uttar
Pradesh. After the death of Lala Ram and Fakkad Baba in
encounters, Nirbhay Gujjar, another dacoit, took her under his
wings and taught her to use the .303 revolver and the AK rifles.
When Nirbhay, who fathered her son, was killed, Seema took
charge of the gang.
U.P. still terror of dacoits in their daily lives. Uttar Pradesh &
Etawah district was not only under the threat of male dacoits but
was also under the terror of female dacoits.
Seema has a 5 year old son for who she dreams a bright
future. She said "I laid down my arms for my son" as she didn't
want her son to grow up in a hostile environment & turn into an
outlaw like her.
86
Surrender
Seema surrendered on 1 Dec.
2000 in the court of Justice of Kanpur.
She was imprisonment for 3 years & 3
months.
She had put forward following
conditions while surrender
1. She must be given gun license.
2. Seema Parihar & her family must be given police
protection.
Till her surrender before Kanpur police in 2003, Seema had
reportedly killed 70 persons, looted 30 houses & abducted 200.
She was facing charges in 29 cases, of which she had been
acquitted in 15. She is now out on bail in 14 other cases.
87
Political Career
Like Phoolan Devi, Seema also wanted to
join politics. In 2002, she was given a ticket to
fight the poll by Shivsena Chief Bal Thacker say,
however, she declined to fight at the last
moment. Even Mulayam Singh has offered her to
join his party but she did not join any of the party
& hence she is still out of politics.
Film
Seema took more than two years to give permission to shoot
the film. But the shooting could not start as the court did not give
her permission to come out of the jail on bail. Finally, Mishra
appealed to the Supreme
Court. The Court allowed
Seema to step out of the
jail on May 7 on condition
that she presents herself
before the sub divisional
judicial
magistrate
wherever she goes. Her
director calls her a natural
before the camera. "I only explained to her some technical aspects
like camera placement and the lights and she was quick to grasp
it," he says adding, "It’s the first time that a real-life character has
made it to the reel life. The story revolves around Seema's trials,
deprivations and her angst against a society dominated by men.”
88
Made both in English and Hindi at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore,
Wounded is slated for release in October.
89
A Case Study of Neelam Gupta
Early Life
Neelam Gupta was born in shish a small village of Orai .Her
father name was Shri. Ramchand Gupta and mother name was
Smt.Usha Gupta.Neelam had four brothers and three sisters. She
was married to Manish Gupta .Neelam ‘s father was a wheat
merchant and was a broker . Her family condition was not so
good.
Dacoit Career
Sharda Devi was washer women and neighbors of Neelam.
Sharda Devi in - law's lived in karoli which is near by Chambal,
which lead to frequent visit of Gujar Gang in Sharda devi’s In-laws
house. Gujar gang has seen Neelam who was really very beautiful
and had an eye on her from the very first day. When Sharda’s
daughter was getting married, Gujar find the way to kidnap Neelam
and has warned Sharda to come along with Neelam.
Sharda went to Neelam’s house to say that her daughter was
getting married and invited Neelam .Neelam said she had to take
permission from her mother Usha Gupta. But her mother did not
agree, but Neelam went without permission.
Soon after she reached Tikrolly, three persons who were
related to Nirbhay Gujar present were there, named Santu, bhata,
pandit, and kailash. Neelam thought those persons are guest of
Sharda. When they reached, Neelam got scared, she saw Guns in
their hands and she was quite amazed seeing those persons as
they were dressed as police men, as to what those police man
90
were doing there .Then Neelam asked Sharda that what we are
doing here ? She said they all belong to Gujar gang.
At the age of 16 year, Nirbhay Gujar gang abducted Neelam
and took her to Nirbhay Gujar. That was the time when dacoit
Seema had started her dacoit career. She was crying in front of
Nirbhay Gujar but Nirbhay was not that kind of person whose heart
gets melt. When he rob or kidnap, he always included name of
Neelam .she had no choice, but to live in Chambal. The life of
dacoit is very difficult they don't sleep in night and the places for
their stay were never fixed. Neelam also did not like this life.
Some time later she fell in love with Shayam Jatav who was
the son of Nirbhay Gujar but they had not told this to Nirbhay Gujar
and Neelam was forcefully married to Nirbhay Gujar.
And after
some time she became mother of Shyam Jatav’s child. Three
month later shyam Jatav injured in police encounter and that time
Neelam saved his life.
26 July 2004 they ran away from their places of Jalaun. They
went to Jaswant nagar, Makhanpur and Alwar which is in
Rajasthan, when they ran away from place to place they had lakhs
of rupees and 2 kg. Gold .Neelam and shyam Jatav did not like the
character of Nirbhay Gujar, Gujar want to kill Neelam and shyam
Jatav and this was the main reason of their hatred.
Surrender
3rd august 2004 shyam Jatav reached Etawah district in Uttar
Pradesh .He was in court for hearing and on 10th july 2004 both
surrendered in front of court. They were scared from Nirbhay Gujar
91
they told that Gujar will not leave them, so they wanted some
security from police in jail.
Neelam and shyam Jatav had 12 registered cases. Shyam
Jatav had a charge on his head of Rs.10, 000 and Neelam had
Rs.5000 from Bhind district (M.P.).
Shayam Jatav cases had registered in Bhind and Neelam
Gupta had 2 cases registered in Orai and Etawah respectively.
Gujar wanted to kill Neelam. He wanted that she should be
killed by Rajveer(brother of Nirbhay Gujar) when Neelam and
Shayam surrender in utter Pradesh ,they did not had any
condition. They only wanted security from police
This is the full story of Neelam from beginning to surrender.
Neelam lived with dacoit. So her life style changed in dacoit there
were not any society who had cared for her .Neelam routine was
as like dacoit who sleep in afternoon and walked in morning and
the place were not decided .it used to change daily.
In the dacoit career Neelam ruled the people this shows that
a simple girl who tortured became tigress. No one wants to take up
crime as own but such kind of circumstances has made women to
take up dacoity and other kinds of crimes.
A Case Study of Ganga Pandey
92
Another women dacoit was born in small village Adoki,
district Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. She was daughter of Shri Durga
Prasad & Maya Devi. She had 4 brothers & one sister. With such a
big family, earnings of her father were very less. They were very
poor & could not lead a better life.
Ganga neither took up arms by her choice, nor even financial
problems forced her to take up arms in her hand, but it was
personal conflict between ganga's family & her neighbors family
which has put arms in her hand. Due to the fight between two
families, the neighbor’s family kidnapped Ganga. She was with the
kidnappers for six month & after that they throw her in Chambal
Lake.
Dacoit Arvind & Saleem saw her & kept her with them in
gang irrespective of her pleads to go back home. None of the
member's heart melted. She was given training for using of Guns,
rifles etc. Like other women dacoits of gang. Later on she was
married to Dipu Singh, of the same gang. She never wanted to
lead a life of dacoit, by which she has to run in hot sun, sometime
live without food & shelters for days etc.
Ganga’s family was eager to see Ganga. They wanted their
daughter back. Even after knowing that she is with dacoit gang.
They were ready to accept her, but on the other side, Ganga didn't
return to her home. She has taken up dacoity not as profession but
as the source of living.
Surrender
93
Ganga Pandey with her gang of Arvind Gurjar and Saleem
Singh surrendered on 17.2.2005 in front of Madhya Pradesh. State
home minister Shri Jagdish devra, another state Minister Shri
Purushottam Singh, D.G.P. Shri S.K. Das, I.G. Sanjay Rana,
Additional D.G.P., and A.D. Shri M.K. Tripathi were present when
Ganga with her gang surrendered. It did not look as Ganga was
surrendering but was looked as if; M.P. Police was surrendering
itself in front of Ganga Pandey.
Ganga has been released last year from Jail. But now the
kidnappers are warning them that her family will be killed soon.
Ganga had asked for protection but, nothing has done so far.
She have even said that if no action is taken soon then she
will again take up arms in her hand & will take revenge with every
kidnapper.
Case Study of Other Prominent Women Dacoits

Kusuma
94
Kusuma, the eldest at 42 years is a contemporary of Phoolan
Devi, the original bandit queen. She was ambushed twice last
week while roaming in Chambal ravines and attending gram
sabhas, the village councils meetings to 'help' people decide about
their parliament candidate and which party to vote. Survived and
the reward of Rs 100,000 on her head remained unclaimed.
She is eldest but certainly not most brazen or business savvy
for that matter. Police in Etawah District claims, with worldly wise
disgust, that Kusuma's fee for the poll management for an entire
village is as low as Rs. 500. That was for 13th Loksabha. This
year's rates are a close secret-at least for outsiders. Kusuma leads
a gang of 15 professional killers.

Lovely Pandey
Lovely Pandey is a study in contrast. Married as a second
wife to bandit Nirbhay Gujjar, the most wanted, her school mate
Asha was the third and now Sheila is fourth, Lovely is a first timer
in election business. She was a homely bride during last one, but
the lack of experience is not her weakness. She, according to local
police is offering a package deal. Nomination till oath taking. How
she would swing it, no one knows except fot the fact she belongs
to the home constituency of the chief minister Mulayam Singh
Yadav.

Sarla Jatav
Sarla Jatav another prominent women dacoit of Chambal
region belongs to Orai district of Uttar Pradesh. She was born in
95
the family of Mehram Jatav & was married to Shyam Jatav. Her
father's profession was field farming. She was primary educated,
Sarla was forcefully married to Shyam Jatav as his uncle was
killed infront of her & she was was the only eye witness. She was
taken away by Shyam Jatav in Jungles & forced her to become
dacoit. She said in her interview that I never wanted to live such
life of Dasyu Sundari but had to lead just because of personal
conflicts of my family.

Imam Begum
Another story of Imam Begum, popularly known as Haseena,
shows that revenge can lead anyone to become criminal. She was
daughter of Asraf Khan & was married to Hasan Khan. She
belonged to Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh. Her husband was
employed in C.R.P.F. due to his continuous absence from home,
Imam Begum came into Physical contact of other men, this made
her husband aggressive & he married another girl. This led to
thrown out of her first wife; imam Begum from house. Due to this
disrespectful attitude of Hasan, Seema Joined Saleem gang with a
sole object of taking revenge from her husband. She has not
become popular like, Phoolan or Seema but has taken up arms in
her hand because of revenge. But we don’t see her reason as
worth as she was told by her husband to leave the other man &
live a peaceful & honest life with him, but she did not listen him as
a result he had married another women
Last Bandit Queen -Manorama
The ravines are losing their feminine touch.
96
Even not many days ago, women dacoits
used to roam the inhospitable terrain, their
pretty faces masking the terror that their male
counterparts embodied. And when the air got
cool and crisp after sundown, they would light
up the night for their lawless band.
Manorama, the queen of the Satpal
gang, is the only pretty face the ravines can boast now after Sarala
Jatav’s arrest in the month of September 2005.
Manorama, the only woman dacoit in the ravines now
A series of encounter deaths and surrenders have taken
their toll while some gangs say they have stopped recruiting
women as they have often broken up groups.
“Aurat to dal ka atank ban chuke hai (women have become a
nightmare for us),” Nirbhay Gujjar, whose gang once had three
women members? Munni, Neelum and Sarala ? Told reporters in
Etawah over phone after Sarala’s arrest on September 8.
“Nehi, nehi, aur aurat ko dal me ghusne nehi denge (No, no.
There is no question of recruiting any more women).”
The relatively new Dharma Gujjar gang, which operates
along the border of Bhind and Etawah districts, had recently
abducted a minor girl but let her off fearing she could soon become
a liability.
97
A survey on the ravines’ queens, by a women’s group hired
by the anti-dacoity squad in Kanpur, says only one woman is still
active in the rugged terrain: Manorama.
The group, which spoke to women dacoits and police
informers, says the women were abducted from poor families but
stayed on with the gang because of the way they used to be
pampered. “One of the surrendered dacoits, Sunita Pandey, used
to flaunt eight gold earrings,” the report of the NGO says. Sunita, it
adds, said she “never dreamt of having this at her own house” and
would have never got such a gift had she married a boy from her
village.
98
Conclusion
To conclude we can say that nobody or no women take up
arms on their own unless they are forced by circumstances. But
once they are wounded by society, they retaliate like a tigress. And
after being with dacoit, Ganga for sometime, women even refused
to return to her parents. This statement has been made by Seema
while her interview.
"Not many people would be able to suffer the brutality that I
faced," Seema adds her eyes moist. "I, along with my friends was
playing just outside our house when I saw a burly, mustachioed
man come bounding towards me. Before I could run into the
house, he caught hold of me and started dragging me into the
jungle. I cried for help, but no one came to my rescue," she recalls.
She was just 13 then.
Thrilled by this we came to conclusion that she was really a
brave woman who not only fought against her own cause but has
made other exploited women to fight against society who harm
them.
Various case studies show that, women always become victim
of exploitation & never born, brought up with dacoit career in their
mind. They have been forced either by society or by family to
become victim of other cause & helpless by situation take up arms
for their livelihood.
99
While surveying the districts of Madhya Pradesh & Uttar
Pradesh, we have taken up interview of some women dacoits &
also of general public including every section of society. Some of
the basic reasons which forced the women to take up Dacoity, (a
serious crime) has been extracted from the interviews given by
dacoits themselves.
Infact, views of general public have also been analyzed for
detailed study & accordingly references have been given wherever
required. We tried to sum up all the details into some main points
as it is a vast area & presenting them all is unrealistic & difficult
task. Hence, the following reasons can be traced out as the basis
of birth of women dacoits in M.P. & U.P.
100
Population
This is first & foremost reasons of spread of dacoity in our
country .As the population increased so as the need for basic
necessities food, shelter, clothes increased. In rural areas, nobody
thought of having small family irrespective of knowing their
deficiency in financial position. There was time when in villages,
farming use to be single occupation & with huge family it was
difficult to survive even more. This has spreaded to urban area
also. That why it has been said that every minute a child is born,
somewhere in our country.
This continuous growth of population has made our country
second most populous country in the world .this rising population
has given unemployment, starvation, illiteracy, blockage of
economic growth etc. This has leaded the affected peoples to
include themselves in unwanted criminal activities like, theft,
robbery, pick pocketing, looting & also dacoity.
Different death rate & birth rate shows the rise in population.
Comparative statement of death rate and birth rate shows increase
in number of peoples year by year in our country.
This population increase has led to unemployment and this
unemployment has forced the people to take up dacoity and other
crimes to survive & for the survival of their families. Data collected
from different sources shows the basic increase and decrease
level in population.
101
Population Census of Madhya Pradesh
The total population of Madhya Pradesh as at 0:00 hours of
1st March 2001 stood at 60,385,118 registering an increase of
24.34 per cent over the population of previous census. In terms of
population it holds the seventh position among States and Union
territories in the country. The sex ratio ( i.e., the number of females
per thousand males) has improved from 912 in 1991 to 920 in the
present census. Total literacy in the State too has shown
significant improvement. This has risen from 44.67% in 1991 to
64.11% in the present Census.
Population:
Persons
Males
Females
Decadal Growth 1991 - 2001:
60,385,118
31,456,873
28,928,245
Sex Ratio:
Persons : (+) 24.34 %
Males : (+) 23.87 %
Females : (+) 24.84 %
920
Percentage of Population
(0-6) to Total Population:
Population (0 - 6 years):
Persons
Males
Females
10,618,323
5,504,422
5,113,901
Persons :
Males
:
Females :
17.58 %
17.50 %
17.68 %
Sex Ratio:
929
(0 - 6 years)
Percentage of Literates to Total
population:
Number of Literates:
Persons
Males
Females
31,1906,109
19,932,013
11,974,096
Persons :
Males
:
Females :
64.11 %
76.80 %
50.28 %
(Source: Provisional Population Totals : India . Census
of India 2001, Paper 1 of 2001)
102
Population:
Persons
Males
Females
Population of Uttar Pradesh
Decadal Growth 1991 - 2001:
166,052,859
87,466,301
78,586,558
Sex Ratio:
Persons : (+) 25.80 %
Males : (+) 24.31 %
Females : (+) 27.50 %
898
Percentage of Population
(0-6) to Total Population:
Population (0 - 6 years):
Persons
Males
Females
30,472,042
15,903,900
14,568,142
Persons :
Males
:
Females :
18.35 %
18.18 %
18.54 %
Sex Ratio:
916
(0 - 6 years)
Percentage of Literates to Total
population:
Number of Literates:
Persons
Males
Females
77,770,275
50,256,119
27,514,156
Persons :
Males
:
Females :
57.36 %
70.23 %
42.98 %
(Source: Provisional Population Totals: India. Census of India
2001, Paper 1 of 2001)
103
27.9
28
24.6
25
Rural Birth rate
Rural Death rate
20
Urban Death rate
8.2
10.7
8.2
10.7
8.3
10
Urban Birth rate
10.8
7.9
15
11.8
Rate in %
30
28.8
35
34.6
35.2
36
40
36.8
Comparartive Chart of Birth and Death Rate
5
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
Year
Population increase in %
Population Growth between (1991-2001)
24.84%
25.00%
24.50%
24.00%
23.87%
23.50%
23.00%
Males
Females
Gender
104
Women Exploitation
It can be seen as the major cause of birth of major women
dacoits in the society. Women were not given due respect &
consideration in the past. They were not allowed to have
education, due to which their independency was blocked as a
result they have to be dependent on society, & in turns society
hampered them. Males had seen women just an object &
satisfying their social, psychological & physical needs & if women
failed to do this, then males & society have exploited them &
harmed them to a great extent. This all lead the aggrieved women
to break this chain of exploitation & take up arms against social
evils for their safety & security.
Crime increment against Women in M.P.
Crime Type
1999
105
2002
DOWRY
PROHIBITION
IMMORAL
TRAFFIC (P)
ACT
SATI
HARASSMENT
MOLESTATION
-100
CRUELTY
-50
DOWRY
DEATH
0
KIDNAPPING &
ABDUCTION
50
RAPE
Increase in %
100
1-DOWRY 304B
2-RAPE 376
3-354 IPC
4-KIDNAPPING
5-294 IPC
6-498A IPC
TOTAL
CRIME AGAINST WOMEN
362
319
417
649
506
1536
3789
333
314
478
616
716
942
3399
304
292
475
548
615
1041
3275
Crime Against Women in U.P.
No. of Activities
2000
1500
1000
500
0
DOWRY
RAPE
354 IPC
KIDNAPPING
294 IPC
498A IPC
Criminal Activities
2007
2006
2005
Financial Unbalance in society
This could be another significant cause of this social evil. A
major of dacoits we have come across were from the poor family,
having a week financial background & which were getting poorer
because of unbalanced financial structure of society. Prevailing
rich & poor difference in society had made, rich richer & poor
poorer. Rich peoples have ruled over poor people by taking away
their lands, by giving them loan which, poor has to repay all his life
without any delay or fail. Hence, this caused burns in the hearts of
poor family gives that were hunted by the Riches, who treated
them as shoes of their foot. Rich peoples due to their good
financial position have forced the poor families to give them their
106
female member, which in turns burned the female heart & finally
burst as women dacoit & such other evils.
Socio - cultural structure of the society
It consisted of traditions, customs, usages, beliefs & values
of our society which has prevailed for long years hampering the
growth of society as a whole. Females were not given due share in
past. They were liability for any family. Many instances can be
seen of death of female infants by family, child marriage, marriage
of younger female to old aged men just because of wealth or any
other reason. In the mid period, irrespective of that, women had
come out from above mentioned evils, they were not allowed to
higher education, primary level was considered enough for them,
this is evident as most of the women dacoits are primary educated.
They were not allowed to step out from their houses for livelihood
& if they do, they were treated out of caste & society, which has
led them to take the shelters in jungles with Dacoits, results taking
Dacoity as their profession & becoming women dacoits.
Agriculture
Before independence agriculture was the main occupation
which had lasted for 200 days & farmers were left with another 165
days of unemployment, which had force them to indulge in such
kind of activities to fulfill their needs during the non agricultural
period.This has resulted not only in birth of women dacoits but also
dacoits & other social evils in society. At the early period,
agriculture was the main source of income & major employment in
the society. All the peoples had lands & their bread & butter was
107
earned by that, as modernization have come in the industrial era,
agriculture become stale, industries have replaced agriculture as a
whole which has led to unemployment, starvation, poverty & on the
whole to decline of society, standard of living & major poverty. This
has led peoples to take up looting, theft, small pocket picking etc.
as source of livelihood & which has grown in size of ultimately
become Dacoity, robbery & other criminal evils. Decrease in water
level of Rainfall in 10years shows less agricultural activities and
more unemployment.
Water Level in M.P.
4
Water level in Meter
4
3
2
2
1
0
1991
2001
Year
Social Engineering
This has been traced another cause of major crimes in society.
Change in social engineering from social world to mechanistic
world has led to birth of evils in our society. During the early
period’s village were self sufficient. Villagers were engaged in rural
employment. There was farmers, potters, carpenters, and
goldsmiths etc. who used to do their particular work for their
livelihood. Output of each had become input of another which gave
them a proper life cycle.
108
Labour (Agriculture)
50%
44%
Percentage
38%
37%
40%
32%
30%
1993-94
20%
2001-2002
10%
0%
Male
Female
Gender
When
social
engineering
changed,
modernization
&
industrialization came into scene & those villagers became
unemployed machines replaced human beings & unemployment
started increasing. Day by day society became mechanistic which
lead people to take up small crimes like, theft, pick pocketing,
robbery etc. According to Indian penal code, there is big
difference in robbery & Dacoity. Theft done by less than 5 people
is called robbery whereas; loot done by more than 5 persons
comes under Dacoity. Hence, people of these villages first started
robbery which automatically becomes Dacoity & birth of dacoit
gangs took place.
Lack of Education
Women were not allowed to take education above primary
level; Infact primary level was also dream for a lot of women. Lack
of education could not give them proper platform to represent
themselves in front of society. Whenever they have thought to step
109
out of shell of their family they had no option but either to take
lower work labour or to attempt illegal activities. Being a family
oriented they were hesitate to take up labourer job & hence led to
the crime world. Once entered in this world is a forever stay.
Without any family, friends & social background & hence illiteracy
has contributed a lot in this problem. These comparative graphs
shows the various aspects of uneducated section of society which
have more of women.
Comparison in %
Comparitive literacy rate in M.P.
100.00%
80.00%
76.89%
50.28%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Males
Females
Gender
Comparison in %
Comparative Literacy rate in U.P.
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
70.23%
42.98%
Males
Females
Gender
110
Male dominated Society
This is most significant factor for women's taking up these
illegal activities. Males dominated society always harassed women
mentally & physically.
Women were not allowed to have education, employment,
represent their talent in society. They were treated as the waste or
liability of family, just existed for fulfillment of their various basic
necessities. Male’s ego always get hurt if women take up their
position in society. During that period if women does not follow the
orders of males then they are thrown out of the home & after this
they had to go to either to any other distant village or jungles & for
their shelters. In any way they have to take up arms for there self
protection & for earning their livelihood they had to take up some
criminal activities as they were uneducated and were out of
society. Hence, males have made women to take up Dacoity as
profession.
Unemployment
This is outcome of illiteracy women were not given right to
study as a result they could not take up any repudiated
employment, which has led them to take up robbery, theft, pick
pocketing etc. as their source of income. Unemployment has not
only made women but also men to take up these illegal activity as
profession because they need not have any degree or certificate to
become a dacoit & take Dacoity as profession. Another major
cause of unemployment can be seen from the fact that rural areas
doesn’t have any industrial or commercial set ,where they can
111
serve and hence this lead them either to leave the village or take
up some illegal activities for earnings.
Employment Percentage during 1990
94%
100%
75%
Percentage
80%
60%
40%
20%
17%
6%
0%
Organised
Unorganised Rural worker
Rural
Children
Misbehaviors with women of rural areas by dacoits
This is most prominent cause of birth of women dacoits. A
number of times when dacoits use to come for loot in villages they
take away women for sexual harassment. After these women
never use to be taken back by their family & society & hence they
have no option but to remain in gang and act as a dacoit. This has
become formost cause.
A live example of this can be seen, of Bharti Kushwah who
was taken away by Gurjar gang. Afterward she was sexually
harassed & was unwontedly married to Pappu Singh Gurjar & had
to lead a life of Dasyu Sundari.
112
113
To take Revenge
This was not a common but one of the basic reasons of birth
of women dacoits in society. Many a times a woman has taken up
arms in order to take revenge for a wrong done to their family
members either by society or by dacoits. Sometimes even women
take shelter of arms for taking revenge to their family members
themselves. This can be seen from example of Haseena (Imamum
Begum) who has joined Saleem (Pahelwan) gang to take revenge
from her husband. After joining gang she has married to the
younger brother of gang leader. She wanted to take revenge from
her husband as he had divorced her & throw her out of home,
which has boiled the blood of Haseena & led her to become a
dacoit.
Similar example has been sited by one of our respondent,
resident of Morena district. His elder brother was Patel of village
and was use to act as a informer of Police officials also. Once
while relaxing at home, he was captured by dacoits who came in
disguise of Police officials. He informed police about one of the
gang member of Dacoits who has been arrested by police on the
basis of information given by the elder brother of respondent.
Hence dacoits kidnapped them and took him away, but could not
succeed in taking revenge, as they had to leave him in between
and go back.
114
Affection with Dacoits
This is not an unusual reason but rarely women take this
step. During the early period, women were bounded by society
norms & practices because of which love, affairs, love marriage
were not allowed & it was treated a bad activity. But, it has been
rightly said by some one "Love is blind" which was proved by
Sheela Gurjar who ran away alongwith Arvind Singh Gurjar a
dacoit’s gang leader with whom she had on love affair.
As he was a dacoit it was quite impossible that her family will
accept their relations but, love has made her to take up this step &
runaway from the home & leave everything behind. This has made
her to take up Dacoity as profession.
To get into politics
This could be traced out as another reason of dacoits &
Dacoity. People who want to get into politics or to have lime light
mistakes Dacoity as the best way to get adopt. This is major
drawback of our society as people becomes criminal and finally get
into politics, bringing into corruption, dirty politics, misbehaviors
etc. into politics even changing the fact of politics which is the
basis of our country.
115
Inequality
This can be traced as another important reason of women
taking up these unwanted activities for their livelihood. Prevailing
social, economical, educational inequalities & injustice in the
society has lead women to become aggressive & take up such
kind of things to satisfy themselves. When we approached general
people to have their opinions & view, Inequality came to the word
of every mouth. Inequality can be two sided on one side women
are not getting equal platform enjoyed by men & on the other hand
social structure & financial structure of our society is so unequal
that inequality has taken big shape. In our society wealth has been
retained by a few hands who rule over others. This in turns leads
to poverty, starvation, injustice, unemployment & ultimately
inequality.
Misbehaviors by family members & society
After analyzing the various norms of society this has come
up as a very basic but shameful reason. We are still not yet
developed mentally & women become enemy of women
somewhere in family, which means the whole world, as a insecure
place, the existence of ones own kith & kin, has pressured the
women to take arms in hand. Women were tortured by the family
members to a great extent. Sometimes these misbehaving take
serious forms also like, burning the women, beating by husband or
family member, treating like servant, depriving of basic needs etc.
Society is no less responsible for this .family means a small
family out of big society. A shell for every member of society. This
116
very society treats women as an object of no importance. Women
became just show piece. Educated societies were some what
better but the rural uneducated societies were horrible to the
extent. This is evident from the fact that, in chambal region birth of
baby girl was treated as bad omen or serious mistake & in many
families baby girls were given to death bed on their birth itself.
Those cruel societies use to sit on the bed & put baby girl in
middle, & any of the members of society or family sits on that small
angel & sent her to death bed or they are given tabacco. This
proves that girls were treated as 'Abhishap' in the past. This all
lead the women to take up arms for their own protection & go to
jungles fight against society. If a woman has left home, definitely
she needs shelters, food & money for her livelihood, for which she
states doing small loots; robbery etc. which ultimately leads to
Dacoity & these women comes to be known as Dasyu Sundari or
women dacoits.
Examples of this are dacoits, Kusma Nain, Sarla Jatav, Anita
& many more. They all were victims of misbehaviors by their family
member. They were given to marriage against their will, which
made their life worse as a result they had took up arms for their
rights & upliftment ultimately become dacoits for the whole society.
(For reference see the questionnaire of Kusma Nayin, Anita &
Sarla Jatav given in the end).
117
Kidnappings
In the earlier periods, dacoits have no earnings other than
ransom. Infact many dacoits use to kidnap the kith and kin of rich
persons like, Zamidars, Seth etc. to get ransom in return. Once
they get asked money, the victim is released by them, and if they
didn't get money then, the victim is no more alive. This was the
basic practices in the early stage of dacoity. Ransom was main
motive for kidnapping. But as the time passed by some another
reasons like, social harassment, sexual reasons, money given by
another to kidnap some one, popularly known as 'Supari' in today
world also become main causes of kidnapping. Kidnapper torture
the kidnapped victim. They were not given food & water. They
were taken by dacoits to their different hidden out places, they
were given a lot of work to do. They were taught using of guns &
other arms & after a long time they are forced to join gangs in
dacoity. Women were not allowed to be in gang if they are not the
relatives of any gang member & hence, gang leader forcefully get
the kidnapped women married to any of his gang member & finally
women comes to be known as women dacoit or 'Dasyu Sundari'.
A thrilled example of this is Seema Parihar, who was
kidnapped by Lala ram & Kusma Nayin gang for ransom. After
being with them for 3-4 months, she had to adopt dacoity, as she
had no other option left. She was the first girl who was kidnapped
by Lala Singh gang or any dacoit in Chambal region. Irrespective
of police report nothing can be done to get Seema back from
Dacoit. She was taught 12 bore gun in the beginning by Lala Ram
Singh. She was forcefully married to Nirbhay Singh of Same gang
by gang leader. But her relationship with Nirbhay could not sustain
118
for long & after some years she married gang leader Lala Ram
Singh after some time from the birth of her child. She has
surrendered on 1 Dec. 2000. A documentary has also been made
on her life by 'Kishan Mishra' named 'Wounded' (For further details
& reference see questionnaire of Seema Parihar at the end).
Personal Conflicts
This is nothing but a ridiculous reason which forced women
to take up dacoity or arms in their hand. In the early periods,
people didn't like to go to police stations, (popularly known as
Thanas during that time) & some the case of personal conflicts.
Panchayats or Zamidars use to be the last place to solve their
conflicts. If they don't agree with the decision of these bodies
mentioned above, they do nothing but harm each other in some
way.
Story of women dacoits Shulekha & Ganga Pandey has
showed that peoples used to become mad for personal conflicts.
Shulekha of Etawah U.P. was taken away by Pehalwan gang who
came to take away her brother but took her away with them
because of some personal conflicts & like this she became victim
of personal conflicts.
Similar case can be seen of Ganga Pandey who was
innocent victim of Dacoit. There was a fight between Ganga's
family & their neighbors because of cracking of wall, as a result her
neighbors a hired dacoits to kidnap Ganga. She was kidnapped by
Arvind Gurjar gang & after that became Dasyu Sundari & a
prominent women dacoit.
119
Dowry System
This could be traced as one of the foremost reason for
aggressive roles played by women. In past, rural peoples were
most inclined to Dowry. Father of groom use to ask a big dowry
from bride’s father & if brides father fail to pay the money or give
the things asked in dowry then, the bride has to repay it her whole
life by tortures of her in laws. Sometime this became so serious
that, in laws made dacoits to take her away with them & torture her
mentally and physically. After being with them for sometime, they
were not taken by family with respect & hence they had to be with
dacoits. Due to this, their boiling blood force them to take up arms
& fight against social evils and society leading them to the path of
becoming dacoits.
120
When something happens in society, its impacts is always
shadowed and hence society could not remain untouched when
women dacoit were operating .These dacoits did not only harmed
their enemies but indirectly have hollowed the society and its value
,traditions, trends and the whole future of society has been
threatened
by the terror of dacoits. But situation has been
changed to a great extent at present.
Hence this chapter studies the various impacts that have
been created by the activities of women dacoits in M.P. and U.P.
Spread of Terrorism
121
This impact has been raised globally. Dacoity & terrorism are
two sides of same coin. During the early period dacoits never
behaved improperly with the society. They didn't threaten the
society. Their main reason for looting was money or any other
cause. During the period of Robinhood he looted wealthy peoples
of community to provide a part of their wealth to needy & this trend
was followed by the following dacoits of that Era.
They didn't harm the rurals & hence, they had an impression
of Masiha or benefit provider. But as days passed by roles of
dacoits started changing, from helpers they started becoming
destroyers. They were mainly concerned about their well being &
not the villagers or needy persons at all. During this era,
destroyers were the name given to dacoits. They were inclined
more to have wealth for themselves. Rivers of blood flooded all
over which had made people get scared about dacoits. Terror of
dacoits started blowing in the atmosphere. Scene of welcoming
dacoits with open hands has been transformed to closed doors. As
soon as dacoits enter any village, all the doors get closed. No one
remains in open streets, because of the terror created by them.
This can be seen from the fact that, this changing face a dacoits
has been captured by Bollywood also. Block blasters Movie
'SHOLAY had shown the terror of dacoit 'Gabbar Singh', the same
way, it use to prevail in our society. One of the dialogues of this
movie "So ja beta warna gabber aa jayega" has proved that terror
of dacoits was so much that even it had made a movie into reality.
Recent case of Gadariya of Shivpuri region has also proved
spread of terrorism. People avoided this region to travel during
evenings & even during silent days of noon. They were looted,
122
kidnapped by this gang in between Transit. This has lead people
believe that this area is danger zone. Still even though Dacoit
Gadariya & his gang has been vanished, his fear is still
somewhere in the air. Hence spreading terrorism is the major
cause done by the dacoits to the society.
Hampering the growth of society
Society is the place which gives birth to dacoits & it is also
the same place that gets more affected by them. Misbehavior of
society to the women’s had made them to take up arms in their
hands for protection of their rights & themselves. Women's after
taking up arms target the very same society in which they have
taken birth. Women's exploited by men & their family members,
harms not only them but to a great extent society. Growth of
people in rural areas gets blocked. As when any rural area
become famous for any dacoit, industries hesitate to get into that
area, which results in lack of industrialization, similarly educational
level also does not increase as no good school or college set up in
backward area having an terror tag created by dacoits. Hence
children of these areas do not get people education. Women
section also can not step out due to terror of dacoit. No one would
like to put their hand in village development & someone do, they
don’t do much because of terror created by dacoit. Because if
once any rural village get modernized dacoits have to leave it & go
somewhere else for their bread & butter, which will mean another
start for them ,which wont be welcomed by dacoits and steps
taken by them to stop development will result in in overall hamper
to the growth of society.
123
Corruption
It can be taken as the major impact of Dacoity. Many a times,
it has seen those dacoits after surrendering & releasing from Jail
take politics as career. Even politicians help dacoits indirectly in
many ways. In turns politicians are helped by dacoits. Hence we
can see it as give & take situation. Politicians use dacoits during
their pooling sessions to have fraud votes, to compel villagers to
vote for their favorite politicians & hence the political leader is
chosen not because of his qualities but because of the dacoits who
kept gun on villagers forehead to vote him.
But this is not an end but a beginning as one who has been
helped by dacoit becomes obliged to them. They have to give
proper attentions to dacoits. As a result, dacoits move more freely
in the area. There is no police fear for dacoits as politicians have
ordered them, not to touch dacoits at all. Dacoit can do loot & any
other crime without any fear of being arrested by police. Police
officials do not even bother to write the report of aggrieved. A
number of cases have been seen. Women who have been taken
away by dacoits like, Kusma Nayan, Ganga Pandey, Sarla Jatav
etc. After their kidnapping irrespective of reports made by their
family nothing had been done by police system which has made
them dacoits.
This politics – dacoit relations does not only provides shelter
to each other but also leads to corruption in administration.
Kautilya in his book Arthsashtra has pointed out 50 such cases
which include cases of corruption because of this relation.
124
This can be seen by a recent statement made by Nirbhay
"During elections, I have helped leaders time and again. That was
the case during Madhya Pradesh's December 2003 assembly
hosting as well as the 2004 Lok Sabha poll,"
Incidentally, Phoolan -- the sole dacoit to ever enter the
Parliament's -- surrendered in Chambal during February 1983
before Bhind's Police Superintendent Rajendra Chaturvedi.
Reduces values of Society
This impact does not only put society in danger but also
weakens the roots of values, beliefs, traditions & culture of our
Indian Society.
Technologies have overshadowed our culture, customs &
belief to a great extent & remaining part has been weakened by
terror & spread of dacoity. When women take up such kind of
things they loose their respect in society. Women were seen as
creator of society but after women becoming dacoit started to be
known as destroyer of the society. People who treated her as
mother started treating her as criminal.
This weakens our values, we lost respects for women, and
we started behaving with them in bad attitude and manner. These
all have not taught by our holy books but has been adopted by
young generation as they see them another cause of disaster.
After surveying & analyzing the general public views, we
came to this conclusion that, women criminals had forced society
to see them as destroyers and not creators. We have lost respect,
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traditions, customs, and beliefs for our society's women as a
whole. And this is still continuing & will be worse if women Dacoity
have not been controlled soon.
Birth of More Criminals & Dacoits
This impact is as natural as the play & rest. Birth of more
criminals & dacoits are taking place. Irrespective of Best level of
police & defence system, day by day the numbers of crimes and
criminals are increasing.
This is common phenomena, because male dacoits use to
have relationships with more than one woman & their off springs
use to adopt Dacoity as legacy from father. These off springs does
not have a positive image in society hence they are forced to take
arms in their hand leading to more crimes & criminals.
This can be seen in another way also, when exploitation
increases aggression increases which in turns lead to more
criminals & crimes. Even though urban population have been
educated but the scene of rural areas have not been changed so
far. They still treat women at their toes, which force them to take
arms in hands to protect themselves. In rural areas, they doesn't
get even police protection, which force them to take their own
action, in this way our society having being educated still,
contributing to growth of Dacoity & crimes, instead of controlling
them.
Degradation of Rural Areas
126
We come across towards the words like, technology,
science, development, facilities, education, employment every
where but in the real scene they are still missing. We still lack all
these in rural areas. For example, Bhind, Shivpuri, district of
Madhya Pradesh still deprive of electricity, water, educational
level, service sector, market, production units etc. same is the
case of Etawah & Orai district of Uttar Pradesh. Now the question
of importance is that, where are all these development? Answer to
this question can be traced out in this fact, that all these
development are developing urban areas more & more which
cause damages to rural areas as they are getting neglected by
developers due to slow rate of growth & need of long gestation
period. Even government hesitates to take up rural areas for
development as they are surrounded by a lot of limitations. Due to
area of dacoit government does not know any certainty as to the
success of project, because dacoit can hamper the progress of
project at anytime.
Similarly private companies also hesitate to put their hands
in rural areas, as, they have panic of Dacoits. They could not find
trained & educated laborers in the rural area which is easily
available in urban areas & hence they find it better to have their
plant in urban or semi rural areas.
Even, village does not have basic facilities for villagers which
have made their life more difficult, which hesitate them to go to
rural areas even for leisure & pleasure as they don't get any
facilities there & this non availability of facilities are the direct
results of dacoits terror. No one treat villages as a safe & proper
127
place for any kind of development as a result degradation of
villagers & rural areas.
Increases Disaster
Disaster by itself means banishment, destroying, harm of
society, our natural atmosphere, life cycle, economic status etc. in
total complete damage to well being. Dacoity does not contribute
directly to disaster but, yes indirectly dacoity is responsible for it.
Due to terror of dacoits, people of rural area does not step
out for employment, they fear as if they leave their village then who
will take care of their family, as a result they have to lead their lives
in limited bread & better, which in long run, results in starvation.
Similarly, dacoits uses jungles as their hidden out places
known as "Addas", which results in cutting of that part of forest
where they stay because they want a proper place to live & which
makes them to restructure the forest as they want. This will lead to
change in atmosphere, unwantedly. This will cause improper
rainfall leading either to monsoon or flood. This leads to disaster
as villages get ruined by floods & hence the whole face of villages’
changes & almost all the village are washed away by flood.
On the contrary, cutting of forest leads to decrease in water
level of these areas & hence makes them plains or desert which
leads to unmanageable situation by villagers as a result the
position leads to overall disaster.
Shelter to Politics
128
This impact can be traced out as a indirect but have serious
outcomes. Rural areas are not free of corruption, dirty politics,
politics game, single party power etc. These all are created by
dacoits to a large extent and they are benefited by this also to a
great extent. Like for example politicians know very well that
dacoits can make anything happen just by their gunpoint, similarly
dacoits know that politicians can make anything possible by their
chair. Due to their good image in society and legal rational rules
and bondations politicians can not use threaten power for
capturing more votes from any of the rural area, even they can not
use this politico power for getting any thing done for them and
hence they have to take the shelter of dacoits to get these illegal
activities done. On the contrary Dacoits need money, defence
shelter, administrative shelter, and a proper code of behavior by
society for which they see the politicians. Police system has been
told by Politicians to behave leniently with dacoit’s .Even some of
the dacoit see Politics as their career after leavening jail followed
by surrender. Now, for this they have to be in good books of
politicians. One of the brilliant examples of this can be seen as
Phoolan Devi who was very famous dacoit as well as the
politician’s professional and has also inspired the people. In 1970
the baboo & gang abducted Phoolan, after that many people of the
gang attempted to rape phoolan. Then she got married with the
leader of dacoits. Her dacoit career had started after some year. In
1983 Phoolan Devi agreed to surrender with some condition in
1996 Phoolan Devi stood for a seat in the parliament as a
Samajwadi Party member during her election campaign. She was
criticized by the women widowed in the Behmai mansacre.
129
Kshatriya Swabhiman Aandolan Samanvay Committee a state
wide campaign to protest against her.
Phoolan devi was elected as an member of parliament
however she proved ineffective as an MP. She got a train stopped
at unscheduled stops to meet her acquaintances in U.P. The
railway minister, Ram Vilas Paswan played down the train incident
and ordered only a nominal enquiry, she visited the Gwalior Jail to
meet her former inmates, when the jail officers didn't let her incline
to the visiting hours rules she abused them later. Suspension order
was issued against the Jail officials involved in the incident, without
any explanations.
In 1998 Phoolen Devi was nominated for the Nobel peace prize
by some member of British Parliament. She lost bid for re-election
in 1998 but she was return to office to following years in 25, 2001
Phoolen Devi was shot dead so lots of people expired with the
Phoolen Devi politician career. So it is the bad impact of our
society.
Blockage to Tourism
As we know that dacoit terror is very highly inflamed to the
people basically like our Chambal region, this place is known by
only dacoit not as tourist spot irrespective of having wonderful
places of interest. Chambal can be developed as good tourism
circuit but due to under development of this area, tourism is
blocked .Tourist even does not know about the nearby
places.Gwalior very nearby place of Chambal is know as historical
130
city having a history of different dynasties like, Mughal, Britishers,
Akbar, Babur, Aurengjaib etc, Even other places like Shivpuri
which was princely state of Britishers has beautiful Building and
gardens which have totally lost. Nobody is aware of the national
park of Shivpuri and of Chambal.None of the Travel Player bother
to have Gwalior, Shivpuri, Morena, Shoepur, Bhind, Orai, Etawah
and Kanpur in their tourist map. Even Tourism of Ministry is not
bothered because this region has been made more famous by
Dacoits and not by its glorious past. Terror showed in the news
papers & T.V. Make tourists not to visit these places. During the
recent past we have come acrossed a number of data showing
tourist visiting these areas but none of them has gone back without
any harm which has not only foreigner tourist but also Indians to
avoid these area for travel, leisure and pleasure hampering the
growth of tourism in these areas and overall hampering the rise of
tourism and economy.
Negative Impact on Young Generation
Due to these kinds of crimes young generations are
developing negative image in their minds. Women who were
treated as sole of generosity, sincerity, kind hearted, mother of
nation has now been treated as Bandits or dasyu sundari.They
have no respect in hearts of young generation because they think
women as soul of every problem now.Infact some of the young
ones inspired by them take the negatives vibes from them like
,they indulge themselves in cheating,theft,robbery etc,Most of the
young females have women dacoits as role models because of
the bravery shown by them to protect themselves from the wrong
doings of society. Bu t young female sees it another way.
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Irrespective of getting due respect and affection from family and
society they become against them and ask for unwanted things.
And if their wills are not satisfied, they treat it as their insult and
uses violence as the only solution. This is harming our society to a
large .Young rurals does not like to study and take up any good
employment but take up such kind of harming activities to earn
their bread and butter, These all does not show an increase in
development, but is seen as a deployment of our country as the
young pillars of our country are getting weak.
132
Increment of Crimes day by day
As we have already mentioned that this problem has given
birth to more dacoits as well as a number of other peoples who
have indulged themselves in other illegal activities. Dacoity has
given place to other crimes to take birth like, Robbery, theft, pick
pocketing, murder, kidnapping etc. Irrespective of our strict police
system we have one daily headline of crime. Infact crime has
found place in cities, metros and in modernized urban area also.
Villages are no more single target of criminals. They resort to cities
for more crimes. Rurals have been already looted by them and
thus they move to different places to satisfy themselves. It can be
seen from the data given by Madhya Pradesh Police that crimes
are increasing day by day. Police system has become helpless.
Our society is another major contributor to the increment of crimes
.society force innocent people to take up crime and became
victims of police. This makes them more aggressive to take up
more serious crimes. Hence we are facing more and more crimes
with more and more criminals.
133
CRIME IN UTTAR PRADESH - YEAR WISE
COMPARATIVE FIGURES
(Data as supplied by SCRB, UP)
Crime Comparison chart Period from 1st Jan. to 31 March
Comparative Figures For 3 Years
Year/Crime
2007
2006
1-Dacoity (Robbery by 5 or more persons)
30
50
2-Loot
350
458
3-Murder
1179
1335
4-Riot
822
932
5-House Breaking
980
1002
6-Road Holdup
0
2
7-Kidnapping for ransom
21
39
8-Dowry Deaths
362
333
9-Rape
319
314
-Total IPC
29283
29157
2005
71
483
1292
909
1077
4
31
304
292
29121
3-Murder
4-Riot
5-House
Breaking
6-Road
Holdup
Criminal Activities
2007
134
2006
2005
8-Dow ry
Deaths
9-Rape
21
39
31
0
2
4
2-Loot
319
314
292
Dacoity
362
333
304
980
1002
1077
822
932
909
1179
1335
1292
350
458
483
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
30
50
71
No. of Activity
Comparative Chart of Crime in Chambal Region
Kidnapping
Blocking of Economic Development
Our economy is mainly dependent on Agriculture and
Industries. These two sectors are the most important revenue
generating areas. Next being Tourism. But due to Dacoity problem
everything has been decline and their revenue is decreasing day
by day. Due to terror of dacoits none of the industries are
developing
in
rural
areas,
teaching
institutes
have
been
established but, none of the tutors finds it suitable to risk their lives
and go to the villages for earning bread and butter. Similarly
medical facilities have also been lacking because no private
doctors wants to open up in rural areas, and government clinic
does not have proper doctors as no doctor would like to treat
himself instead of patients. Their is mass unemployment in rural
areas because in early periods every households depends on
agriculture, but now agriculture has become seasonal i.e., we have
only 200 days of employment and remaining 165 days have been
left unearned. As rural peoples are not educated they have no
option other than taking up wrong activities. This blocks not only
the growth of people but of the economy at large. We have
hundred of reasons like this which has blocked our country to grow
fastly.
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Remedies or measures which needed to be taken to control
the birth of women dacoit are drown from the opinion of normal
people and dacoit themselves and from the various other sources
dacoits are those who have bared everything and hence their
suggestion to control more women from taking up dacoity are most
important. Hence we have tried to enlarge and present their view
in as way as possible.
Secondary our concern was with this society who caused
the birth of women and is also affected by these dacoits and hence
their opinion do get second important place in our research .hence
adequate of these measures can be traced out to the opinion and
view of women dacoit and normal sample universe.
Some of the remedies are born out of reason themselves as
it has been said every problem comes with as solution .hence
following remedies can be considered as appropriate step needed
to be taken to control birth of women dacoity.
Equality
136
Equality as the word implies means, similarity. Hence to start
with remedies this is the first & foremost measure which should be
widely spread in our country to that every section of the society get
this feeling into veins and stop behaving improperly with others.
Equality should become national phenomena. We have seen
from the research, which showed that the women were not given
full rights & respect in the male dominated society. All the rights,
either of daily life or of legal laws was only for men. Women were
not allowed to have employment, education in public as well
private affairs.
But the scene is changing now, as the citizens of our country
are getting equal importance at all the sphere of society. There has
been, policies, programme & mission to educate every section of
society so that they become independent. This will help them to
earn their bread & butter in a proper manner & not by indulging
themselves in crimes, dacoity, theft etc.
Now days, adult education programmes are also seen in
every rural village. This makes them independent to earn their own
income. Similarly women are getting more space in society. They
are getting platform by which they can show case their talent & can
earn a healthy livelihood for themselves & for her family. This will
make them not to take up any other wrong activities.
Bandits were born due to exploitation, due to ignorance, lack
of knowledge, lack of government support, respect by society, lack
of
recognition in the community. They couldn't resort to a proper
way of justice & hence took up arms to have justice by themselves.
137
But today situation is not same as before. They are getting due
respect, proper platform to represent themselves & protection
against the exploitation which was done to them. With the
enforcement of various rules & laws women are getting proper
employment. Now we have reservation of seats in all the public
services like, Railways, Government offices even now higher level
offices are now filled up by equal percentage of Men & Women.
Even the Panchayats of rural areas have 1/3rd representation of
women.
We must develop a society which is full of indiscrimination.
This message must be spread to each & every person of society
whether of rural or of urban areas. This can be done by using
various means of communication. Now, science has given blessing
of audio, video & audio – visual means of communication. By
audio we have, Radio, this covers not only the literate but also
illiterate population. For audio visual means of communication. By
audio we have, radio, this covers not only the literate but illiterate
population also. For Audio visual we have T.V. the biggest media
for spreading any kind of information worldwide. Television has
become member of each family. By television we can spread the
message of social justice & equity to every section of society.
Audio – Video also includes the campaigns which are done by
team of actors while roaming as their vehicles & by producing
dramas for spreading awareness. Another major tool of spreading
this information is Newspapers, magazines, journals but it has a
limitation & i.e. its approach is only to the extend of educated
peoples but still as literacy rate is increasing so as awareness of
social equity, justice, respect to women, proper platform to women
138
in every section equal right to women all are welcomed by people
of new generation.
Education
It can be said as the only medicine for the eradication of
almost all the evils & crimes. One of the main causes of birth of
Bandits as we have seen was lack of education to female section
of society. Women were treated as an object which should be kept
in home & were only suppose to cook, and handle their families
etc. This made them not to understand the outside world. Almost
all the prominent dacoits were illiterate & most of the Bandits as
we can find are either illiterate or primary level educated & hence
they didn't know the baric ways for resorting a solution against
exploitation.
As they never stepped out of their homes they didn't even
know what is law & how does police, laws, rules, courts etc. helps
aggrieved people & as a result they took up arms to fight against
exploitation. One of the main reason of this was illiterate person
was always matter of ignorance & hence they have to look back on
arms & other evils of the lower & backward society.
139
Literacy Growth in MP
Literacy in %
80.00%
60.00%
64.11%
44.67%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
19991
2001
Year
Similarly due to lack of education, they were not having proper
platform of employment. As we go through the employment chart,
it seems that nearly10 years ago, there was hardly female section
who were educated & female section were seen to be negligible.
This has lead to spread of crimes, aggression, decreasing
standard of society.
So, one of the pilot project which should be undertaken by
whole society is "Educating each & every person of society. Males
& females must be treated as two pillars of this society & must get
due importance for education.
Education is the single treatment for most of the prevailing
crime & with their dacoity and birth of Bandits can be avoided to a
great extent.
Government has also taken up measures to remove illiteracy
from the rural scene like compulsory education to every child
between 4 – 12 years, compulsory education to female child,
140
prohibition of child marriage, reservation of appropriate seats for
employment in private as well as public sector for women.
Adult education programmes have also been launched.
Education does not only mean only educating them or giving them
bookish knowledge but does also provide a sense of right & wrong.
This makes rural peoples & especially women to understand their
stand or position in society as well as to know what is right for
them. Proper education also leads to economic development of the
population as it is directly related to employment which means
earning & capacity. Better earnings will lead to better standard of
living, and economic development will also be raised.
One of the major & important area which should be given
first priority are rural villages & small districts like, Sheopur,
Morena, Shivpuri, Orai & Etawah etc. for spreading the storm of
education as women of these small places are more affected than
of urban areas due to lack of education. As a result due to their
ignorance of various things & lack of knowledge they are mentally
& physical tortured as a results they go behind the evils of society
for their revenge. They should have a proper platform so that they
become independent & can earn & have their livelihood without
any dependence on males.
Hence to conclude with this, it can be said that education is
not only the best medicine for prevention of evils and crimes from
rural society but is best measure to remove dacoity from the
scene. This is been proved so far as how, we can see a decline
rate in the dacoity & even less rate of women dacoits. So let be
educated & educate others should be the best policy to adopt.
141
Provision of Employment
Employment is the word of every month in the present world.
Every person of the society wants to be self employed to spend
their life as they want. But, the scene was totally different during
early periods. During past, earnings were drawn mainly by
agriculture as major of the population was uneducated & they had
long field which were irrigated by farmers & villagers & the
earnings out of this irrigation were utilized for their livelihood.
Hence, no body knew the exact meaning of employment. Young
rurals were sent to urban areas for employment which was not
exactly of that type which are seen today because lack of
education could not help them to take up creative jobs & hence
they had to live their life by doing manual work.
Employment Future Expectation
50.0%
Percentage
40.0%
44%
29.6%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
2000
2020
Seeing all these women situation can be imagine which is
worse picture of past. Women were not allowed to step out & also
to take up education, & hence they even could not get the manual
142
work. However, a woman at work was seen as evil, which blocked
the path of good life for women.
Our time, government has taken up measures to reduce the
scene of unemployment from economy. This had done by
investment in many plants & projects by government as well as
private sectors. This major plant does not only give employment to
thousands of peoples but also earned good revenue to
government.
Hence employment provision is another measure which
should be given due importance. Now we have 65% of population
educated including women who all need to do job or to take up
employment
for their livelihood government
has launched
programmes & policies which gives equal importance to women.
Government jobs have 1/3rd representations of women. All political
seats have reservations for women. We have equal representation
of women in Loksabha, Rajya Sabha, Directorate, Collectorate,
Chief Ministership, Prime Ministership & even Presidentship. This
has been proved by leading ladies of our nation that, if allowed
they can make wonders which heightens our nations pride.
Women are representing every section of society & even
young girls are getting interested in building there career. And
hence they take up education, employment etc. services by &
hence government & private people should take up measures to
provide adequate and equal employment opportunities to males &
females, with due consideration to every section of society.
143
By providing equal opportunities of employment to rural &
urban female population it can somewhat stop birth of women
dacoits or Bandit to a large extent.
Provision of Police support.
Police is t he word which shows protection to everyone in
society, whether rich, or poor, male or female, children or aged etc.
Police is that department of Indian administration which does not
only protect the lives of people but also risk their own lives for sake
of civilians of our country.
Police of early periods were known by Thanedhars, Darogas,
Subedars etc. These people were ruled by wealthiest, rich seths &
moreover by dacoits themselves, women were mainly exploited by
rich males or by Zamidars & by male society which ruled over
police of that village. By analyzing the details of different women
dacoits we had seen that after their kidnapping, reports have been
registered by their family members but nothing was did by police.
Police were even not able to justice with them. Hence what else,
aggrieved had taken up guns in their hands to take revenge &
solve their own problems.
Police system become somewhat good in the middle period
& a lot of measures were taken even we had seen surrender of
many women dacoits during the period of 1990's. One of the major
Bandit Phoolan Devi has also surrendered during that period.
Police has provided a good system for their surrender have agreed
for their terms & conditions. They have measures to give proper
protection to the family members of Bandits. Even, bandits are
144
promised to have a better & respectful life after their release from
Jail.
Even, an open jail has been opened at Mungawali, which
has make houses for the family members of Bandits & dacoits to
lead a better life. But, still dacoit does not treat it as a helping hand
of police but they still resist themselves from surrounding
themselves.
Therefore, police system should be strong enough to protect
not only the civilians, exploited women but also the bandits & their
family, so that they can have a better life.
Protection to women
Women were never secured & protected during early period.
As we have already mentioned in our research that, women were
treated as shoe of males. Women were never given due respect,
infact they were not at all treated as family member. They were
just machines who have to serve their owners, i.e. men. They were
suppose to cook, do household work, take care of children & lead
their life without any other role in family. They were not allowed to
take part in important decisions of family & were suppose to live in
"Parda" & should hide themselves in side curtains. This was kind
of punishment without Jail. Women were beaten by their husbands
on not performing their orders. Even at that time, Dowry led to
Major exploitation of women in society.
Women were burnt, killed and were mentally & physical
tortured. There was not had a single place for protection against
such exploitation. They even could not take step with the help of
145
police & other nearby relatives or neighbors. This led a feeling of
aggression in them which were burnt as volcano & made them
killers, kidnappers, thefts, dacoits etc.
Hence, women in the middle period were started getting due
importance. As the importance of education, speeded among
society, women also started taking education as a result they were
given due respect in every section of society. One could find
women working & succeeding in every knok & corner of our
society. In fact they are now taught to learn various methods of self
protection in a proper way. They can resort to various laws, court,
police etc for their self respect & protection.
Therefore now various measures should be adopted to make
the women a very important part of our society & our lives. Women
should get due respect & protection. For all this government has
already taken up measures like, banning of dowry system &
punishing those who demand for dowry. A number of laws have
also been launched for the protection of women.
Societicial Operations
Society which is the main place where bandits take birth &
the major cause for the birth of bandits should take measures to
remove women dacoits & dacoity. Society treated women badly,
with improper behaviors, didn't give them respect, proper care,
protection & treated them as servant. This was the negative role
played by society during the early part.
But now society have some what changed their attitude
towards women. As a result now the women dacoits are also seen
146
as living things. They are getting respect in society. Before these
bandits were treated as the out of society. They were not part of
their society as they were uneducated, of rural areas, were
involved in evils & crimes has spent half of their lives in Jail &
which all these made our community to hate 'Bandit Queens'.
But, now when we have interview general public, a majority
of them have said that society is the major player in the removal of
dacoity from the scene. And this is more or less true also. Society
plays a major role in building or destroying any human being &
hence society should treat women dacoits as part of their lives &
not as criminals. This will make them to have felt of closeness to
every one & will make everyone good enough to lead a peaceful
life.
Government
Government is that system which can do everything for
removal of dacoity & birth of Bandit. Government at early period
was not this much powerful & not even known of various basic
fundamentals & never proved to be a helping hand to local people.
Government was ignorant of various fact & they did not have any
good relations with public government laid their programme &
policies keeping in view their own interest & public has to follow
without any argument because, public was not at all taken into
consideration.
In regard to Dacoits & dacoity, Government had always been
making laws & policies to capture dacoits. There was the time
when every dacoit carried a prize on his name & on the name of
147
his gang member. Sometimes even govt. has announced the prize
to the person who has caught dacoit either alive or dead. This
made dacoits even more aggressive. They started doing crimes
which destroyed Community even more then before, they were
threatened on gun points & asked to surrender or they will be
encountered & shot dead. And even government didn’t promise for
better life to their family members, if they surrender. These all
never made any dacoit to surrender & put down arms. Instead they
become aggressive & destroyed lives of people, whole villages
were not out of their capture.
But, as the time passed away government become
somewhat known about the feelings of dacoits & have started
giving them appropriate & reasonable help if they surrender
themselves. Government has taken up steps to provide good
shelter, protection to dacoits & even their family members.
They were helped to lead a normal life after their release
from Jail. Even they are not routine as before in Jail. For instance
an open jail has been opened by government which has promised
to give shelter & work to family members of dacoits. This has
made a number of dacoits to surrender for e.g., Phoolan Devi,
Seema Parihar, and Lovely Pandey etc.
But, government has to take up some more measures which
lead to the proper protection of dacoits & their family members. In
addition they must also get full respect in society & before law.
Serious Punishment to Criminals
148
While interviewing the General public we have come across
many a times by such kind of statements which shows they want
criminals to be given serious punishment. They did not have
sympathy even for women criminals; instead they had a view that,
their punishment should be a model for future generation, so that
nobody even thinks of harming society.
By analyzing their view & by brain storming on their thought,
we have come to this as a serious remedy. And we completely
agree that criminals who do not behave in accordance to law, or
who have harmed society massively, must be given serious
punishment, so that they become an example to those who
attempt these kinds of crimes.
By study, we have seen that during early age, nobody uses
to take any serious action against dacoits. They use to roam freely
from jungle to jungle from villages & villages & even police officers
were under the control of dacoits. Dacoits were never given
serious punishment. Police stations & the officers were so careless
that dacoits use to runaway from Jails by harming the officers &
sometime even their family members become victim of dacoit’s
aggression. This has made other small criminals to take up serious
crimes without fear as they know they are never giving to be
punished seriously & if ever they are captured also, they will be
blessed soon.
But, this scene must be changed to remove crime &
criminals from society, it is essential to control criminal by doing
such kind of crimes & hence they should be given serious
punishment. If possible they should be even given imprisonment
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which include on only Jail but also include penalty. They must be
trained in Jail to lead a peaceful life after getting release from the
Jail. They must not only give serious punishment but must also
give such kind of facilities & training which also melts their heart &
made them kind towards society. This will make not only them but
even other upcoming criminals to give a second thought to carry
on crimes. If this helps to remove even some percentage of crimes
from our society than giving serious punishment for making a
dacoit or criminal a kind heart person is worth.
Respect
By the word itself we can understand that, respect is not only
to the higher section of the society but it means to all the people
living in society. Everyone should get due respect & consideration.
This does not have finding in early periods. During early times,
respect was not every ones cup of tea & especially for women it
was restricted. Women even does not know what respect means.
They were far behind respect. No body treated them as a part of
family & even society. Members of family were only consisted of
males. Women as we have already seen that women use to do
work & if they do not obey, they will be beaten. A number of cases
of women burnt in Kitchen corridor throw out of houses, being
sexually & mentally harassed etc has been proved so far. This all
shows that women never got due respect & consideration. No
body treated them as part of universe, although she is the only one
who has given us birth. Women are mother of our nation. Because
of her we come in this world & she is the only one who brought us
up with scarifies & comprises and we after growing up forget
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everything & leave her to be vanished. We never look back to tract
her in better way.
This all made us shame of ourselves as we can not even
take care of that great person whose sacrifice has made us what
we are today.
Hence, to include we recommend that, women must get
respect & their derived position in the society. Today we find
women in every sphere walking shoulder to shoulder with males. If
rural women also state getting due respect by their family & society
members then no women will be forced to take up arms in their
hand & will not be known as bandits or women dacoit or Dasyu
Sundari.
Justice
Justice is direct outcome of law & order equity which
ultimately leads to the upliftment if the women, in turns upliftment
of society as a whole. Justice was not seen in the society,
especially for women. Nobody thought of justice. Administration,
justice, police etc. was only for wealthy males & not for women of
lower & even upper class of society. Justice became thing of no
sense for women as they were told that justice is for all but in really
justice was not for women.
There are several cases where we have seen that, for many
women dacoits, their family members have made complaints to
police about kidnapping of their daughters, but not a single action
were taken for their rescue. This shows irresponsibility &
irresponsiveness of government & even judicial people towards
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women as a result those all women who were victim of dacoits
became bandits & has led their lives with arms, in jungles & with
blood & aggression.
Hence to remove dacoity & birth of women dacoit from our
society we should treat women & those women who have become
victim of dacoits with due respect, care & must be provides with
justice an equity before law of our country, So that faith on police
remain by the public & in turns police should be enough
responsible to retain such faith by providing justice to women.
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Begun with Putli Bai in 1950’s continued till Manorama “The
last Bandit Queen” of 2005, Story finally came to end.
By the research done so far we could trace numerous data
which shows that women due to their exploitation became
aggressive
and have started committing crime which have not
only harmed the male society but whole society have been
affected by them. But these doses not mean that they were
untouched, Infact first and foremost harm was done to them.
There was no women dacoit during early 50,s but as the
time passed away dacoity and woman dacoits are seen
everywhere, even after 57 years of independence, the out laws or
baghis are ruling Chambal ravines and the forest
near by 13
district across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are
affected by rural bandits. Moreover Sheopur alone recorded 450
kidnapping in past 5 years and though about 400 dacoits have
been killed over the last 15 years, the crime rate and how little
signs of dipping is?
Both research and activism had focused on the negative
fallout of the process of globalization and liberalization on women.
They have demanded that the investment in the social sector be
increased. But a government bent on opening up the economy to
foreign investment and free trade has paid no heed to these
voices, although India has experienced industrial recession and a
period of jobless growth in the past decade. Given the high levels
of the population and a large population below age 20, the demand
for employment is growing and joblessness and accompanying
frustrations have contributed to violence, frequently expressed as
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ethnic, caste, class or communal conflicts. Women are the worst
sufferers in such conflicts.
Besides raising these economic issues, sections of the
women's movement are questioning the oppression of Dalit
women. Muslim and Christian women are strongly demanding
equal rights.
Various reasons which have been traced so far are women
exploitation financial imbalance, agriculture; change in social
engineering has also contributed to great extant in dacoity and
birth of women dacoit. Women dacoit was not granted to have
education which becomes another drawback for growth of women
section. Because of lake of education ,women were deprived of
employment .income some of the women dacoit also had amazed
story like love affairs with male dacoits, take revenge etc. these
reason could be traced back to early period when women were
dacoit not having any social and financial background but now the
trend has been changed.
Numerous mean uses have been taken from time to time to
control birth of women dacoit which have been proved fruitful also.
there has been decline rate of women dacoit and was ended in the
years2005 now we don’t have a single women dacoit even, male
dacoit are also rare to find the last dacoit which had made terror in
whole M.P. specially Shivpuri, Sheopur, Gwalior was Rambabu
garadiya a which has been shot dead .recently .this shows that our
developing society has made combined efforts with government to
remove dacoits dacoity all together. But what remains unchanged
since the 19th century when the bandit first emerged in these parts
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is a firm’s belief in the maxim? Jaako bairi jinda hai ,taako jeeno
dihkkar (your life is meaningless if your enemy is alive).The gun is
routinely used to settle scores. Driving from Gwalior to Bhind, the
gun culture was evident. Every third Motor cycle rider has a Pillionrider sporting a gun shops. The district has over 25,000 licensed
gun owners. And if we count for unlicensed one then the number
will touch 50,000.
Several measures were undertaken to remove this problem
which has left its impact in the from of terrorism hampering the
growth of society, disaster ,degradation of rural society ,blocking of
tourism etc.
The Constitution had promised free education for all Indian
children up to the age of 14. This promise was never fulfilled. The
government is contemplating passing a law to grant children ages
6-14 the right to education. Child rights and women's activists
argue that this right is already enshrined in the Constitution and
the Right to Education Bill has been designed to absolve the
government of its responsibility towards those less than six years
of age.
The National Commission for Women has made a series of
recommendations for legal reform and other measures that
deserve consideration but have so far been ignored by the
government. Last year the Indian government reported to a UN
Committee on the status of implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination of Women and was congratulated
for bringing women into panchayats, but critiqued on other counts
including denial of rights to minority women.
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The government has declared 2001 as the Year of Women's
Empowerment or Swashakti. A policy for the Empowerment of
Women was drafted in 1996 but has been in cold storage since
then. It has recently, in March 2001, been passed by the Cabinet
but has still to be made public. Even the Parliamentary Committee
on Women's Empowerment has been denied the document.
Results of these measures could be seen as Several former
dacoits have entered politics. Most dacoits who did surrender have
been living peaceably, farming the 30 bighas of land that the
government allotted them. Many admit that they ran away after the
first accidental killing, simply because they were poor and were
afraid that they would not even be able to afford bail. Makhan
Singh, now settled in Ajitpur village, says, "If we had money to fight
court cases, we would not have become dacoits. I've even
forgotten what my original dispute was about! But there were
laathis and there was a fight and somebody got killed. It was a little
thing."
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