A Criminologist's Diary-48

A Criminologist’s Diary-48

Account Criminology and Criminal Ju...

GOONDAISM as a Public Service

Goondaism is a real problem widely discussed in India today. Goonda in English Dictionary means a ROGUE or HOODLUM. In Hindi, it is written as GUNDA. Goon in Dictionary means (informal) a hired hoodlum or a thug; (slang) a stupid, foolish or awkward person. Gooney Bird means (slang) a goon who is also called goony. Goon-Squad means a group of hired thugs used to perform ruthless or violent acts. The acts of goons is what we say goondaism and the goondas may be simulated ones, hired ones, appointed ones or self-employed as they are seen in our society. Such goodas are found in almost all cities in the Country especially in Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai.

During 1940s or around 1940, a number of studies was conducted in the west, particularly in USA to know the activities of goondas, goonda culture, goondaism, goonda attacks, goonda personality, goonda rivalry, goonda fights etc. There were gangs in plenty there and when we read the literature on gangs in USA, we are inclined to think that we are witnessing in India what was there in the west during 1925-1940 as gangism –reborn here in the name of goondaism now. Of course, Indian goondaism has a difference now. We had the Goonda Acts during the time of the British rule here, but the goondaism as seen today is different from what it was during the pre-independent time here.

Again, gang as given in the Dictionary has a meaning: “a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, esp. such a group engaged in delinquent behavior”. The GOONDAS in India may be classified as follows on the basis of my studies and observations.

(1) Simulated Goondas-They act as if they are GOONDAS. They do so because they want to make an income or earning by being or becoming so. Actually, they do not enter into delinquent behavior or they may even run away from a scene of delinquency. Unemployment, under-employment, making of easy money, living a luxurious life etc. may be the reasons or causative factors for the same.

(2) Employed Goondas- They are employed by money lenders, vehicle loan sharks, Abkaries and so on, the purpose of which is not at all for employing them for any criminal acts, but to collect the loaned amount or to capture the vehicles in case the loan is not repaid in time or to conduct their business smoothly- e.g., sale or transport of illicit liquor, contraband articles without any problems. They may become violent only if and if only they find that such an undesirable act is necessary to realize the loaned amount or to conduct their business in a smooth way. Hence, they are officially designated as Recovery Officers, Salesman in liquor bars etc.

(3) Self- employed Goondas- They are goondas or goonda-squads whose purpose is to make a real income by really being or becoming goondas. They involve in criminal acts as and when situations demand. They charge huge amount of money for their criminal acts and now there are many such groups in many cities and therefore they are technically called ‘Quotation Goondas’. Every group has a leader and the goondas in every such squad behave as per the instructions and guidance from their leaders. Just yesterday, a leader of such a notorious goonda squad was killed in a goonda attack- a newspaper reported. There is danger and loss of property in goondaism ,but it brings exorbitant money for the leader and his party. No doubt, it is lucrative, though dangerous.

The goonda leaders have informal association and they form a network to assist mutually. They have their own transport and communication systems. They claim that they are SERVICE AGENCIES who render services to the demanding public at a cheaper rate than the official machinery of the Government in power-namely, the police. For example, the self-employed goonda squad which is actively involved in capturing the vehicles in case of the failure to repay the money in time is called VEHICLE REPOSSESSION SERVICE AGENCY rather than Goondas to capture the vehicles.

The politicians ,loan sharks, business men, abkaries, crime syndicates, nexus crime partners, religious rackets etc. make use of the ‘services’ of these gangs by frequently employing them. Though there exist Gooda Acts (as the Act is popularly called) in many States in India, studies show that they are ineffective or having no teeth to control or reduce goodaism in the Country.