MUMBAI, November 6: The 15 lakh strong tribal community of Fasse Pardhis has threatened to file a defamation case against the police commissioner R H Mendonca for his reported remarks that ``all Parshis are born criminals.'Mendonca's reported remarks were made at a crowded media after four members of the community were arrested in connection with the ghastly killing of two constables and a private securityman at Malad on early Wednesday. The tribal mahasangh chief Laxman Gaikwad said he would seek prosecution of Mendonca under the Atrocities on Tribals Act. He also plans to submit a memorandum in this regard to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).``The commissioner's reported statements are proof that the police force is yet to come out of the colonial mindset of British rulers. It is totally unfair to dub the entire community since the facts are otherwise,'' Gaikwad said. Admitting that there were criminal elements in the community `who deserve to be hanged', he added, ``The rest are engaged in manual labour, petty trading and the age-old vocation of hunting in the wild.'' Only one of the population is educated.Gaikwad alleged that taking advantage of the Wednesday incident police have gone on a rampage picking up innocent tribals from various hamlets in the city and beat them up mercilessly. They are detained in police stations for hours without food or water. Four such tribals, claimed to be victims of police brutality with injuries, were presented before the press.
