Demand for Delisting Tribals BJP’s Communal Agenda
JHARKHAND state secretariat of the CPI(M) strongly opposed the politics of RSS sponsored Janjati Suraksha Manch which is dividing the tribals in the name of religion and raising the demand to exclude tribals from the ST list who have adopted Christianity or Islam. The adivasis ethnically belong to the tribals in our country as well as in different countries of the world and irrespective of their religion, their status as tribals does not change. And as our constitution is secular, adivasis are free to adopt the religion of their choice.
BJP leaders, Kadiya Munda, MP Sudarshan Bhagat, former MLA Gangotri Kujur, and Ramkumar Pahan in the rally and public meeting of Janjati Suraksha Manch clearly prove that they are intimidating people by raising such communal issues. BJP is stooping down to the politics of hate and divide. Moreover, the BJP-led central government is deliberately not recognising Sarna or the traditional religious codes of tribals to further their narrow agenda.
The state secretariat of CPI(M) appealed to the tribal people of the state to unitedly oppose and defeat the politics of hatred and division on communal lines by BJP-RSS and to intensify their struggle on core issues of protection of CNT and SPT Act, PESA, Forest Rights Act, Fifth Schedule, etc., and other legal and constitutional rights.
Ill effects of delisting: -
• In many families, a brother can be a Sarna and another brother/s can be a Christian. This will split the family and ultimately divide society.
• Out of 26.21 per cent tribal population in Jharkhand, more than 14 per cent tribal are Christian tribals. Delisting will make the land of 14 per cent Christian tribals general, which means there will be transfer or loot of land.
• If 14 per cent of Christian tribals' land becomes general land, many panchayat blocks in panchayat / municipal bodies of the district and ST seats of MLA and MP will be eliminated. This will have an adverse effect on policies/ laws applicable to the tribal people.
• Ultimately, treating 14 per cent of Christian tribals as general will pose a threat to the constitutional arrangement of the Vth Schedule in the state.
