Several hundred members of the tribal community from Jharkhand staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Tuesday demanding a separate Sarna Code in the 2021 census — a move that is expected to give Sarna-following tribals a separate religious identity. A similar protest was also staged outside the Raj Bhawan in Ranchi on Tuesday by members of different tribal rights groups here.
Munna Toppo, a member of Jai Adivasi Central Committee, another tribal rights body, was one of the protestors at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. He said that the protests saw participation of tribal men and women from across the country, including places like Andaman & Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. “When Sikhs and Jains can have a code in the Census, why can’t we? Our population is much higher than theirs and we have been asking for a separate code for several decades now,” said Toppo, adding that the Government at the Centre should at least listen to their demands and take actions accordingly.
Another tribal rights activist from Jharkhand, Arbind Oraon, who participated in the protests at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday said, “Tribals from across the country gathered here to press for the inclusion of a tribal column in the Census. Around 1200 tribal men and women participated in the protest.” Oraon, who happens to be the co-convener of a conglomerate constituted especially for the purpose, said that members of tribal communities in Meghalaya and Assam also joined the protests in the national capital.
Bablu Munda, president of Kendriya Sarna Samiti, a tribal rights group that actively participated in the protests, said that the tribal community in Jharkhand has been pressing for a Sarna Code since decades, but no Government has ever bothered to pay heed to their demands. “After several years of no interest shown by any Government, former Chief Minister Raghubar Das had assured that he will speak to the Centre about our demands. But his Government was toppled before he could take any initiative regarding our issues,” Munda said.
Das had raised the demand of various tribal outfits for a separate Sarna Code at the Assembly here. He had also said on a number of occasions that his Government will press for a separate Sarna Code if he is voted to power again. However, the tripartite alliance of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) toppled his Government and Das could not even win from his seat, Jamshedpur East.
Sarna followers are nature worshippers, who do not consider themselves Hindus and have been fighting for a separate religious identity in India. Lakhs of tribesmen who were born in Sarna-following families got converted to Christianity over the past century after the advent of the missionaries, claim tribal gurus. These tribesmen have also been at loggerheads with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over being tagged as Hindus by the saffron outfit.
A major tribal movement for a separate religious identity has been boiling in Jharkhand and neighbouring states for the past couple of years. In 2014, thousands of Sarna followers handed over a memorandum to then Union minister P Chidambaram and demanded recognition of Sarna as a separate religion. The crusaders back then had also staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, but their pleas went unheeded. In 2015, about 30,000 tribesmen held a nationwide campaign for the same.
The Sarna followers fall in the category of ‘other religious practices’ in the Census. According to the 2011 Census, tribals form 26.2 per cent of the total population of 3.29 crore in Jharkhand. Organisations campaigning for a Sarna Code claim that out of the total tribal population here, hardly 10 per cent follow Christianity and the remaining follow the Sarna Dharm (religion).