Politics of Tribal Religious Identity

Communal polarisation among non-tribals and tribals is the result of Sangh Parivar’s activi­ties in the tribal belt. We could witness the result of that in 2008 in the Kandhamal riots.

Above mentioned communal conditions prima facia appear to be a clash between fanatic Hindus versus fanatic Christian missionaries which rightfully has a significant stake in the politics of religion and the tribal identity question but most importantly it also reveals the ever growing vertical divisions among tribals that have been created over the period. Due to divisionary politics the tribal community is divided between converted Christian tribals and non-converted tribals. Apart from that it has resulted in an emergence of caste and class hierarchy and decline in traditional tribal culture among tribals (Patel 2017).

The question of conversion is a very convoluted subject. Freedom of conscience and to freely profess, practise, and propagate religion is a right guaranteed by the Indian constitu­tion, and the practising or professing of religion is a matter of personal choice. But there is no unanimity in judicial opinions on religious conversions; on one hand Article 25 of the Indian constitution contains the word ‘propagate’ in which any Indian citizen above the age of 18 can choose any religion; on the other hand in the 1977 judgement of Rev. Stanislau vs the State of Madhya Pradesh case, it is been interpreted that the right to propagate does not equal to right to convert, apart from that there are anti-conversion laws in place to deter conversion activities vis-a-vis misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement, or marriage in many Indian states; but it is still a contested subject in the court of law and well debated in academia.

Conversion in return of favour or with coercion seems to be unethical and questionable because the condition of the tribal community is deplorable based on various social, health, developmental indicators, and missionaries consider it is their duty to uplift them by pro­viding material support and mainly by doing conversions. In doing so and to attract tribals many a times their religious symbols are beings used, manipulated, or modified in order to keep tribals in the Christian fold. Such practices subvert the idea of conversion, which in some cases has become a means of emancipation, for instance in case of the dalits’ conver­sion into Neo-Buddhism in the year 1956 which was emancipatory and uplifting for dalits.

Tribals have been converted to multiple religions, such as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, etc. but conversion into Islam and Christianity has generated much tension and reactions at a national level in recent years. The reason is an aggressive campaign conducted by right-wing Hindu groups is imbedded in the doctrine of Hindu Nationalism. According to V.D. Savarkar, Hindus consider their fatherland (Pitrubhumi) and holy-land (Punyabhoomi) as one. Unlike Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose forefathers belong to Vedic past, Muslims and Christians cannot be identified as Hindus as they do not consider India as a holy-land. Arab and Palestine are holy-lands for them. Therefore, they are a threat to India’s cultural unity (Sahoo 2013). Like Christianity, Islam is also a missionary religion. Globally both religions are competing for converts, especially with indigenous religions. In India, con­version into Islam is two-fold; on one hand, model of Mughal ruler who respected the indig­enous Indian element, on the other hand despots like Gazni, Aurangzeb who plundered and destroyed temples and harshly imposed taxes on non-Muslims. With the advent of Muslim invaders in the 11th and 12th century Rajput rulers who did not surrender to Muslim rule moved to tribal areas replacing tribal chiefs, and during that period there is some evidence of tribals converting to Islam baring some retaining their traditional identity (Giri 2020).

Theologically speaking inviting others to Islamic faith is supposed to be a part of Muslims’ religious obligation; still unlike Christians, Muslims have not seen systematic missionary activities as something that they need to pursue as individuals or support through donations to specific proselytising institutions (Hermansen 2014). But special mention of the Tabligi movement has to be made which started in the 1920s and tried to revitalise the Islamic movement in India. A major cause of concern for the movement was to address converted Muslims who upon conversion continue to hold non-Islamic values and practices and there­fore it aimed to instill basic tenets and practices of Islam to tribes and caste Hindus who are converted to Islam, but not firm about their Muslim identity, Islamic norms, and practices (Ali 2003). It is a missionary offshoot of Islamic groups in response to Hindus’ Shuddhi (purification) movement.

In modern times, especially in the age of nationalism and regionalism, conversions are stigmatised and considered as betrayal, collaboration with foreign conquerors and contam­ination to true origins. Ghar Vapsi/Wapsi (home-coming) or shuddhi (purification) move­ments by Hindu outfits are mainly inspired by these conversion attempts. The objective is to convert marginalised groups like dalit and tribals into the Hindu fold and integrate them into Hindu social order, preventing converting into other religions by running welfare pro­jects such as tribal schools, hostels, and hospitals (Sud 2007).

Religious segregation of tribals was started by Christian missionaries and later on in the 20th century due to the systematisation of census operation in India, each community was prompted to count its numbers, as community’s demographic weight could be reflected in politics. Until the 19th century no re-conversion procedure existed in Hinduism, but a changed electoral land­scape in politics explains the growing involvement of nationalist and right-wing fundamentalist groups in anti-Christian and anti-Islamic proselytisation activities (Jaffrelot 2011).

In present tribal politics of identity, religious conversions have changed dynamics between non-converted tribals and converted tribals. There are two significant causes of these conflicts; one is conflict over practising rituals, customs, etc.; and other one is over assuming scheduled tribe status even after converting into Christianity (Kumar 2014).

The question of tribal religious identity creates a significant spatial and discursive site where radical group identities are being contested. A study conducted by Bhowmick and Jana on Santal tribal group of West Bengal gives us a clear picture of how tribal conversions into other religions has steered identity struggles among tribals. Non-converted Santals are gaining consciousness over losing traditional identity due to the imposition of Hinduisation and Christian proselytisation activities. The process of retribalisation is done with the aim of providing distinct religious identity to Santals. This has been done to mark clear distinc­tions among safa-hor, um-hor⁶, and Bonga-hor. Bonga-hors are followers of Sari-dharam, that is traditional Santal gods. Another tribal community called Deswali Majhi community who follow Hindu lifestyle in order to uplift their social status are not considered a sched­uled tribe any more as they discarded the worship practices of Santals and now in order to avail of constitutional opportunities and facilities are fighting to regain their tribal status since the 1960s. Segmentation and division among tribal societies have begun with con­versions; prior to that all tribes were socially equal (Bhowmick & Jana 2008). In the late 1930s, Jaipal Singh founded Adivasi Mahasabha with demand for adequate representation in government, legislature, services and separate tribal state but in the mean time Sanatan Adivasi Mahasabha, which was formed in 1939 by the non-Christian Adivasi Oraon tribe, opposed Adivasi Mahasabha’s demand of a separate tribal state. The main concern of non­converted Adivasis was against dominance of Christian tribals and those who avail all the facilities that are meant for tribals (Rana 1992). Similaly, in the contemporary period, non-converted tribes are concerned over constitutional safeguards being shared among converted tribals who are accused of having used both benefits of Scheduled Tribes and minority provisions. Non-converted tribals are also apprehensive of allurements of conver­sion that would influence other members to adopt Christianity (Kumar 2014).

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