之前提到 Kerim Friedman 所拍攝的紀錄片 Acting Like a Thief （中文翻譯暫定為《賊模賊樣》）時，我和lukhnos在線上一邊討論這部紀錄片，另一方面對於「Denotified Tribe」這個名詞的意義始終不解，於是lukhnos寫了一封信，想向Kerim問清楚到底是什麼意思，看完Kerim的回信之後，才發現之前有些地方弄錯了。

Kerim回信如下：

「Denotified Tribe」是一個你在任何字典上都沒有辦法查到的隱諱字眼，而這是歷史的產物：1871年時英國殖民政府在制定「犯罪部落法案」（Criminal Tribes Act）時，將上百計的部落名列（notifying）在「犯罪部落」（riminal tribes）名單中；到了1952年—印度獨立的五年之後，印度人廢除了「犯罪部落法案」，也就是將這些部落「除名」（de-notifying）。

但是，事情並沒有這麼簡單，因為印度人很快又通過了「經常性違法者法案」（Habitual Offender’s Act），此一法案與「犯罪部落法案」可說殊無二致，因此，雖然他們被「除名」了（例如，不再被列為罪犯」，他們還是被以相同的方式對待。甚至就算他們離開了被迫勞動的囚營，他們仍然經常被警察逮捕，而且他們必須要使用一種特別的「通行證」（與南非過去的種族隔離政策也沒有兩樣）。兒童在片中所唱的：「英國人走了，警察來了」，就是這個意思。

「經常性違法者法案」在1990年代才廢止，而這也正是「除名部落」（de-notified tribe， DNT）運動正要開始的時候。

Kerim 的回信原文如下：

Regarding “denotified tribe”: This is a very obscure term which you won’t find in ANY dictionary. It is very much a product of history:

In 1871 the British colonial government “notified” hundreds of tribes in India as “criminal tribes”. This just means that these tribes were “listed” when the “Criminal Tribes Act” of 1871 was made into law.

In 1952, five years after India’s independence, they repealed the “Criminal Tribes Act”, thus “de-notifying” these tribes! In other words, they were removed from the law books.

However, it is not that simple, because India soon passed the “Habitual Offender’s Act” which was almost exactly the same as the “Criminal Tribes Act”. So, even though they were “denotified” (i.e. no longer listed as criminals), they were still treated very much the same. Even though they were freed from the prison camps where they had done forced labor, they were still often arrested by the police and they had to have special “passes” (not unlike Apartheid rules in South Africa). This is what the children mean in their song when they sing: “The British left, and the Police came.”

These new laws (the “Habitual Offender’s Act”) were not repealed until the 1990s, when the DNT (de-notified tribe) rights movement started.