Agartala: The unity of Tripura’s indigenous people, across all communities, was one of the cornerstones of TIPRA Motha’s success in the assembly elections earlier this year in Tripura. But even as the party continues to negotiate with the state and central government to improve the state’s indigenous population’s conditions, one issue lurking in the background for decades now looks set to gain traction.
Janajati Suraksha Mancha (JSM), a tribal body believed to be backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has demanded scrapping of the Scheduled Tribe status for tribals who have converted to other faiths, especially Christianity.
The outfit has also announced a rally on December 25—the day of Christmas—to press for their demand of delisting the tribal people who converted to Christianity. The RSS, however, clarified that the JSM is not affiliated with them. “They are an independent body working for the welfare of the tribal communities”, an RSS spokesman told EastMojo. According to the Janajati Suraksha Mancha, their demand is valid and constitutional. However, opposition parties have branded the move as an attempt to create a religious divide among the tribals.
Speaking exclusively to EastMojo, joint secretary Janajati Morcha, Tripura Prant unit, Kartik Tripura, said, “This is not a new demand. In 1967, Dr Kartik Orang raised this demand for the first time when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was at the helm of affairs. He convinced as many as 235 MPs and submitted his demand draft before the Joint Parliamentary Committee. Due to some unknown reason, the government did not act on the issue.”
Kartik Tripura also said if the tribal population’s religious conversion goes ‘unchecked’, the indigenous traditions, customs and beliefs would be at stake. “We are not against any faith. We are trying to tell the whole world that once someone converts to Christianity, they do not necessarily follow the tribal society’s customs. The Christians do not participate in Garia Puja, Ker Puja or, for that matter, any religious or social customs mandated by the customary laws. We should be socially conscious about our roots, which is why we have special constitutional privileges,” claimed Tripura.
The JSM leader also stated that the tribals who embraced Christianity out of their free will were also entitled to dual benefits. “They enjoy entitlements of Scheduled Tribes and Religious Minorities as well. This must end. Some people will say that once the ST status is abolished, they will not be allowed to get benefits enshrined in the constitution. But our movement is not aimed at that particular side of the story.
We are making this demand to protect our culture and customs, which would certainly go extinct if people keep converting to other faiths,” he added.
It is worthy to mention that such rallies have taken place in 11 states, and Tripura would be the 12th place where the JSM is organising such a rally.
Referring to Article 341 of the Indian Constitution, Kartik said, “Article 341 says that if someone from the Scheduled Caste community embraces another faith, he loses the special benefits of SC quota. But, in the case of Article 342, which deals with the tribal people of the state, no such obligation is inducted. We are asking for a constitutional amendment to protect the faith and culture of the tribal society.”
As soon as the rally was announced on December 25, opposition political parties wasted no time in blaming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS for playing the “religious card”.
Animesh Debbarma, the leader of the opposition, made it clear that TIPRA Motha would oppose such a demand, stating that the ST reservation was not granted on religious grounds.
“I came to know about a rally at the Swami Vivekananda Ground and the body (JSM) has sought permission for the rally. I don’t see any constitutional validity to their demand because religion can never be a factor in granting ST status. The socio-economic conditions of the society were the yardstick to judge whether they should be considered as SCs, OBCs or STs. TIPRA Motha would soon launch a campaign against this divisive call,” he maintained.
Jitendra Choudhary, the CPIM state secretary, came down heavily on the JSM call and branded the upcoming rally as an attempt to create a divide on the religious lines in a state ‘widely respected for its secular fabric’.
“To shift public focus from the real issues, the BJP and RSS have been trying to create issues that have nothing to do with the public interest. The RSS and the BJP back the Janajati Suraksha Mancha. In other states, they play the Hindu-Muslim card for political polarisation, and in Tripura, where the Hindu-Muslim narrative failed to gain any traction, the narrative of Hindu-Christian divide is being created especially in the tribal-dominated areas of the state.” Choudhury said the JSM demand is constitutionally invalid. “They are asking for scrapping the ST status of tribals who converted to Christianity. I want to ask them, was the constitution drafted based on religion? The classification of ST, SC, OBC and EBC was not done on religious grounds, it was based on socio-economic conditions. These organisations should go back to history and make some course corrections before making demands that disregard the spirit of the constitution,” said Choudhury.
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JSA’s demand could face hurdles in Tripura because nearly all political parties have Christian tribal leaders. Even in BJP, several Ministers, and MLAs follow Christianity. This perhaps explains why the BJP has refrained from issuing a statement on this issue. Sources in the party’s tribal wing said the JSM was not linked to the ruling party, and their organisation would maintain distance from the event.
Like the BJP, the tribal bodies such as the Tiprasa Hoda and the Jamatia Hoda, the two apex social bodies of the tribal communities also refrained from making a statement. When contacted, the convener of the Council of Tiprasa Hoda, Birendra Tripura said, “We don’t want to make any statement on the issue right now. The Council will soon convene a meeting at Agartala, after which our stand would be public.”
Jamatia Hoda concurred with the Tiprasa Hoda.
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