Former BJP MP from Mayurbhanj, Odisha, and national president of Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (Tribal Empowerment Campaign) Salkhan Murmu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing the Sarna religion code for tribals in the census.
In a letter written (in Hindi) to the Prime Minister on Saturday afternoon, Murmu expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for visiting the birthplace of tribal icon Ulihatu in Khunti district of Jharkhand on November 15 — the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda — and declaring the day as Rashtriya Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas (National Tribal Pride Day).
The letter thanks the Prime Minister for nominating a tribal woman Droupadi Murmu to the post of President of India.
It also urges Modi to create another history for tribals by giving a separate Sarna Dharma code and claims that “it will give recognition to the existence, identity and participation of about 15 crore tribals in India”.
The letter claims that till the 1951 census, there was a separate religious column for tribals which was later removed by the Congress.
It also alleged that “BJP is bent upon forcibly converting the tribals into Hindus” and claims that in the 2011 census, the number of nature-worshiping tribals who had written Sarna religion was around 50 lakh which was greater than the Jain religion which stood at 44 lakh.
“Still the government is not giving recognition to the Sarna Dharma Code for the tribals which is an attack on their constitutional fundamental rights. This oppression forces the tribal people of India to become Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc. As a result, tribals are forced to be cut off from the roots of their language, culture, thinking culture and naturalistic life values etc,” the letter claims.
The letter informs Modi that lakhs of tribals from India and abroad will unite and raise their voice for the Sarna Dharma Code at a public meeting on November 8 at Morabadi Ground in Ranchi.
It also threatens to block railways and roadways in tribal-dominated regions on December 8 if the separate religion code is not granted for tribals in the census.
It accused BJP-RSS of labelling nature-worshipping tribals as Hindus and countered it by claiming that under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and Hindu Succession Act 1956, tribals are not included.
“Tribals are nature worshippers, not idol worshippers. There is no caste system among the tribals. There is no concept of heaven or hell among the tribals. Tribal people are different in their thinking, culture and behaviour,” the letter states.
Tribals argue that the implementation of a separate Sarna religion code in census surveys would allow the tribals to be identified as followers of the Sarna faith. Tribal organisations have claimed that with the Centre dropping the “Others” option from the religion column for the next census, Sarna adherents would be forced to either skip the column or declare themselves members of one of the six specified religions: Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had in June last year alleged that the state Assembly had passed a resolution in a special session of Assembly in 2020 demanding the Sarna religion code to be included in the census and submitted it to the Centre through the governor. But no decision has been taken by the Centre on the issue. He had also written a letter to the Prime Minister in this connection last September.
