Two recent political events attracted public attention towards the demands of the indigenous communities. One, on May 3, just a day before the first phase of Census 2027 began, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote to the President, Prime Minister and Jharkhand Governor,urging them to introduce a separate religion code by the name of ‘Sarna’ in Census 2027. In November, 2020 such a proposal was passed in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. Two, tribals got irked with Home Minister Amit Shah who addressed the Adivasis as ‘Vanvasis’ from the platform of Janjati Suraksha Manch last month. With the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 set in February next year, demands are being raised from Adivasi organisations for a separate religion code by the name of ‘Sarna’.
As per the orders of the Census conducted in the year 2001 and 2011, religions – Hindu, Muslim, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikh and Jainism were given a code from one to six. It was written in it that for ‘other religions’, the name of the religion may be written but no separate code number shall be allotted to them. However, a look into the history of Census reveals that tribals had a different code in the census from 1871 to 1951 under the title ‘Aboriginals’ and ‘Tribe’. Later, these titles were removed and ‘Others’ was inserted. In the Census 2027, the category ‘Others’ has been removed which means that tribals may be forced to categorise themselves amongst one of the six religious categories. This, they believe, will directly impact their religious identity.
It is important to understand that Sarna Dharma is not a monolithic religion but a collection of diverse indigenous belief systems and practices that are deeply rooted in the cultural and spiritual heritage of different Adivasi communities. Most indigenous people claim to be nature worshippers and are not Hindus, Muslims or Christians. Over fifty lakh tribal people in the entire country had put their religion as ‘Sarna’ in the 2011 census although it was not a code. Votaries for the separate code allege that in the 2027 census, the Adivasis are being strategically put in the column of Hindus. A section of the Adivasis are demanding delisting from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category of those who have converted to Islam or Christianity.
Article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People states that ‘Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture’. The moot question is how far does the government’s denial to allot a separate religion code to Adivasis align with the provisions of the UN Declaration?
Members of several tribal bodies from Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Bihar and Assam took part in the Maharally under the banner of the Rashtriya Adivasi Samaj Sarna Dharma Raksha Abhiyan. More than a hundred people from neighbouring Nepal joined it to extend their support. A resolution was passed in the West Bengal Assembly in 2023 and sent for the Centre’s approval. Odisha, Chattisgarh, Bihar and Assam are also preparing to send similar proposals to the Centre.
What about those tribals who would not like to categorise themselves under the Sarna Dharma? For example, the Gond tribe has its own Gondi religion and its deity is Bada Dev. Similarly, South Indian tribes have their own religion. A serious question may arise for the Census Commissioner of India about whether to categorise the tribals demanding the Sarna religion under the ‘Sarna’ title and give them a separate code or bring the entire tribal community under the ambit of Sarna Dharma. If the former is agreed upon, it will give rise to the demand for varied tribal religion codes as per the beliefs of the communities in different states. If the latter is accepted, then tribals from some states might refuse to categorise themselves under the Sarna Dharma code. One of the solutions that could be thought over is to reinstall the religious category or separate code that was given to the tribals in the census 1951 as ‘Tribe’.
