Amit Shah stated in his Jharkhand manifesto that if the BJP is elected, it will discuss a special Sarna code for tribal people in the census. However, RSS believes that demand supported by JMM is “bogus.”
New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Sunday that the BJP will consider a separate Sarna code for tribal people in the decennial census if elected to power in Jharkhand, which may be seen as a major break from the Sangh Parivar’s stance on Adivasis.
“The BJP, if voted to power in Jharkhand, will deliberate on the Sarna religious code issue and take appropriate decisions,” Shah stated when he released the BJP’s “Sankalp Patra” for the state’s assembly elections.
According to a top RSS official in Ranchi who spoke to The Awadh Times, the statement was made only with election pressures in mind.
On this matter, the BJP found itself in a difficult situation. Tribal sentiment had to be accommodated to some extent, the official stated. All that has been stated is that the BJP government would discuss the matter. Another concern is if the demand is truly satisfied.
The functionary responded, “At most, they (tribals) can be seen only as separate as Jains or Buddhists,” when questioned if the idea that the BJP might discuss the Sarna issue goes against the Sangh Parivar’s long-standing ideological attitude on tribals. No one can separate Vanvasis from the Hindu fold; in fact, they are more Hindu than anybody else.
“Tribals themselves act in one way while saying another. They visit temples and observe all Hindu holidays, although they claim to seek Sarna. Hemant Soren visits temples as well. “There is no real demand for Sarna,” he declared.
“But it has been said that the BJP will deliberate on it because it was made to corner the BJP,” he continued. The functionary argued that the political dimension of religion must be kept apart from its cultural and intellectual aspects.
However, Shah’s remarks have caused a stir among the RSS, notably in Jharkhand.
“We’ve been telling Vanvasi they’re Hindu for years, and we’ve come a long way,” an RSS official stated. They now all celebrate Diwali, Vijayadashami, and Durga Puja with great fervor. “To say that the BJP will consider or deliberate Sarna code undoes all our hard work,” he continued, “because every tribal village has temples and youths who wear tikas.”
Demands for a separate Sarna code, supported by the ruling JMM, are at an all-time high in Jharkhand, where tribal communities make up 26% of the population, according to the 2011 census.
The indigenous communities list “Others” as their religion on the census since they do not consider themselves to be members of any organized religion, including Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism. They have been calling for the creation of a special column for the Sarna religion, which they view as an affront to their faith.
Since the RSS, the BJP’s ideological tutor, has consistently insisted that indigenous people who have not converted to Christianity are part of the Sanatan Dharma, the matter has been difficult for the party.
The RSS and the Sangh Parivar have maintained for decades that India’s tribal communities are Hindu, and that Christian missionaries and “anti-national” forces have planted the myth that they practice a distinct religion as part of a plot to destroy India.
“Tu Main, Ek Rakht (you and I have the same blood)” is really the rallying cry of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA), an RSS affiliate that works with tribal tribes in India. It highlights the shared ancestry of Adivasis and non-Adivasi Hindus in India.
Since tribal communities are not seen as having arrived in India from outside, unlike Islam and Christianity, they have always raised serious concerns about the Hindutva ideology. The majority of historical accounts claim that they were the first people to live in India; this is encapsulated in the name “Adivasi,” which tribal people prefer to use to identify themselves.
But according to the Hindu nationalist interpretation of history, the autochthones of India were the Aryans of the Vedic era, not the tribal people, whom the RSS prefers to refer to as “forest-dwellers” or “vanvasi.” For this reason, the RSS does not use the term “Adivasi” for tribal people.
Lakshmi Narayan, a tribal activist from Ranchi, stated, “The idea that there are inhabitants of this land whose existence here predates the Aryans, and who don’t call themselves Hindu, destabilizes the whole history cobbled up by Hindutva.” “No Adivasi will believe that a BJP government will grant them the Sarna code, regardless of what they say.”
The ruling JMM, however, has completely backed the demand for a separate religion, and tribal communities who vehemently stress their separation from Hindus have cornered the BJP on the matter.
Former BJP MP Kariya Munda, who served eight terms from Khunti, said that Sarna is a site of devotion. It resembles a masjid or gurdwara. Can a masjid or gurdwara be considered a distinct dharma? Munda enquired. “Sarna and Sanatan are identical in every way. He claimed that the sole political goal of this demand was to weaken the BJP’s support among Sanatani tribal people.
“Obviously, the BJP won’t allow that to occur.”
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