Thousands of people from various tribal communities of Assam assembled in Guwahati on Sunday demanding measures for safeguarding their traditional culture.

Representatives of almost all the tribes of the state, such as Bodos, Rabhas, Mishings, Dimasas, Tiwas, Karbi, tea tribes and Sonowal-Kacharis, from 30 districts attended the day-long ‘Chalo Dispur’ programme, organiser of the event, the Janajati Dharma Sangskriti Suraksha Manch (JDSSM), said in a press release.

The organisation claimed people of the tribal communities were falling prey to “unethical conversion”, which has led the converted people to forsake their traditional culture, language and rituals.

It demanded that Scheduled Tribe (ST) people who convert to other religions and give up their “original tribal culture, customs, rituals, way of life and traditions” should be delisted from the ST list.

“We will be sending separate memorandums to the president and the prime minister through the Assam governor with this demand soon,” the organisers said.

The participants at the rally were dressed in their traditional attire and more than 10 groups performed folk dances at the venue.

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