Tribal groups seek removal of converted Muslims, Christians from ST list
NEW DELHI, MAY 24 (AGENCIES): Lakhs of members from various tribal communities from across the country gathered at Delhi’s Red Fort grounds on Sunday and called for the de-listing of converted tribals from the Scheduled Tribe category, while Union home minister Amit Shah asserted that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) posed no threat to tribal communities.
Addressing the “Janjati Sanskritik Samagam, organised by RSS affiliate Janajati Suraksha Manch and allied groups here on Sunday, held in the backdrop of the 150th birth anniversary year of tribal icon Birsa Munda, Shah highlighted tribal welfare initiatives undertaken by the Modi government and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had increased tribal welfare funding to Rs. 1.50 lakh crore compared to Rs. 28,000 crore during the Congress regime.
Shah said two BJP-ruled states– Uttarakhand and Gujarat– had introduced UCC while keeping tribals out of its purview. He said no tradition of any tribal community would be restricted under the Code and urged people not to fall prey to “divisive forces” spreading misinformation. He also credited Modi with appointing Droupadi Murmu as the country’s first tribal President.
On Maoism, Shah claimed the five-decade-old insurgency problem had been brought to an end under the Modi government and alleged that previous governments had allowed it to continue, resulting in the deaths of around 40,000 tribals. Shah also criticised illegal religious conversions in tribal areas and said tribal communities represented the “largest sustainable model in the world.”
Organisers claimed that nearly 1.5 lakh people from over 500 tribal communities across the country participated in the event.
Kartik Oraon, a prominent tribal leader from Bihar and former Congress MP, had submitted memoranda signed by hundreds of MPs in 1967 and 1970 seeking the removal of Scheduled Tribe benefits for tribals who had converted to Christianity or Islam.
“This cultural programme is aimed at giving a major push to our long-pending demand for de-listing converted tribals from the Scheduled Tribe category,” Maalaya Jigdung of Janajati Suraksha Manch, Assam prant, said. Jigdung said the mobilisation would help build wider national support for a constitutional amendment under Article 342.
The event began with cultural processions from five locations in Delhi, converging at the Red Fort grounds. Participants dressed in traditional attire carried tribal flags, beat drums and performed folk dances. Groups from Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andaman and Nicobar and several other states took part in the programme.
Balaram Phangcho, organising secretary of North East Janajati Dharm Sanskriti Suraksha Manch from Karbi Anglong district, said those who had converted to Islam or Christianity should be removed from the ST category through an amendment under Article 342.