Community in Distress
The Pernas of Kathua district, who have lived the life of criminals and are treated as social outcasts, claim to be the decedents of Prithviraj Chauhan and Maharana Pratap. Prosperity continues to elude the community despite its unscrupulous ways, reports Ashutosh Sharma from Jammu.
If a murder, burglary, rape or any other crime takes place in neighbouring states like Himachal, Punjab and Haryana, or even Rajasthan, the police pick up Perna youths as suspects. In local parlance, Perna has become a word that is liberally used to offend someone. What is famous about members of this meat-eating community is that they can even eat snakes, and are known for vigorous gymnastic skills.
The Pernas of Kathua district, who have lived the life of criminals and are treated as social outcasts, claim to be the decedents of Prithviraj Chauhan and Maharana Pratap. Prosperity continues to elude the community despite its unscrupulous ways, reports Ashutosh Sharma from Jammu.
 A group of Perna children in Gati village of Kathua district |
Considering themselves as a defeated community, the Pernas of Kathua district in the Jammu region are living in a state of social seclusion, and are deprived of state protection. Speaking about their lineage, they claim to be the decedents of famous warriors Prithviraj Chauhan and Maharana Pratap of Rajasthan. They believe that after their ancestors left the royal palaces, they started living in dense forests away from mainstream community. The subsequent generations were brought up in isolation, and that is why this sense of exclusion vis-à-vis society.
If a murder, burglary, rape or any other crime takes place in neighbouring states like Himachal, Punjab and Haryana, or even Rajasthan, the police pick up Perna youths as suspects. In local parlance, Perna has become a word that is liberally used to offend someone. What is famous about members of this meat-eating community is that they can even eat snakes, and are known for vigorous gymnastic skills.
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