The Voice of the Voiceless (Tribal Peoples)10 on their Religious Identity

Recently, while the media channels were running a series of debates about the escalat­ing tensions between India and Pakistan, the tribal representatives from around 19 states arrived at ‘Jantar Mantar’ (New Delhi) and left after a day of silent protest.

Although there has been a long debate about the religion that the tribal communities fol­low, the tribal peoples who took part in the (above cited) protest were demanding the ‘right to choose tribal religion’ as an option in the Census and/or any other forums.

27.4.1 Certain Noteworthy Voices of the Voiceless Peoples on ‘Tribal Religion’¹¹

We should bear in mind that the general voice of voiceless peoples, namely, ‘The Tribes of India’ on their religious identity is this: “We do not consider ourselves ‘Hindus’’’. Let me quote certain voices of the voiceless peoples from the Tribal India in order to elucidate the above cited proclamation:

Mr. Mahendra Dhruva, a tribal activist from Bihar says,

As the Census form has only six options under the religion column, viz., Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh, if we do not consider ourselves the followers of any of these religions... before 2011, a 7th option, ‘Others’ was provided and most of us used to opt for it. But, now (during 2011) even that (option) has been removed.

Mr. Dhruva added further,

We want a separate religious code option for all the tribal peoples of our country. If you look at the statistics of all the Censuses of British Era (from 1871 to 1931), there was option for ‘tribes’ to choose the code ‘Aboriginal’ as an option¹².

But after independence, the Government removed ‘it’, so that the tribes are counted either as ‘Hindus’ or followers of other religions.

According to Mr. S. Sathyanarayan, another tribal activist from Bihar, the tribal popula­tion in the state constitutes six per cent. And he says further,

All the tribes in the country have been following many different religions like Koya Punem, Adi, Sarna, etc. However, none of them has been recognised (by the Union Government of India). The Government should provide a separate code for the ‘Tribal Religion’, so that their identity can be preserved.

He further alleges that the removal of the ‘Aboriginal’ option is an attempt by the Union Government to make them ‘religious slaves’. Unfortunately, as per the instructions issued for the Census conducted in 2001, the six religions - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism - were given the Code one to six. If a person follows another reli­gion, the enumerator is asked to write the name. And the Government has made it clear that the other religions will not be given a code number. A similar method was adopted in the 2011 Census as well.

Fortunately, though the tribal communities follow different religious practices and traditions, in addition to speaking different languages, they are united in their demand. According to the tribal activist Mr. Sathyanarayan,

Our Assessment is that there are 83 religious practices among various tribes in the country. No matter which community we belong to, we will follow our beliefs, cus­toms, deities, rituals, culture in our own way. But, we should be granted ‘a specific religious identity’ at the national level so that we can stand on our own and not seek refuge in another religion.

Mahendra Dhruva says,

At present, representation from 19 states has gathered here. We have reached a con­sensus that despite the differences in our beliefs and cultures at the regional level, all tribal communities should have the same religious identity or code at the national level.

He adds further, “It is applicable to the Hindu religion as well, because religious practices and methods and customs of worship are not the same among all Hindus”.

Rajmani Uraon, who belong to the ‘Sarna Community’ and hails from Jharkhand’s Lohardaga, says that their forefathers have been demanding a ‘religious status’ for Sarna for decades. She further added “Now that all the tribes of the country have united on this issue, we should get a separate religious code before the onset of 2021 Census”.

One may wonder, what are the practical problems that the tribal communities face every day, in the absence of a separate religious code? To this genuine doubt, Balaghat’s tribal activist Chandresh Marawi says, “The elimination of the option ‘Others’ from the religious code is causing a lot of problems”. He further said,

When the Census was conducted in 2011, and there was no option for ‘Others’ in the religious code. I raised an objection, but was asked to choose ‘Hinduism’”. “When I was getting my marriage registered online I had to choose ‘Hindu Religion’, as there was no other suitable option under the religious code.

Speaking to the Media (see Markam 2019), the researcher and Founder-Editor of Adivasi Resurgence, Mr. Akash Poyam said that in the Census conducted by the British the ‘tribes’ were classified as ‘Animists’. But, when the time came for the Census in 1941, the Anthropologist Verrier Elwin, who was the Advisor to the Government of India, suggested, “Since they (i.e., Madia tribes of Bastar) were closer to Shaivism, which is part of Hinduism, they should be considered ‘Hindus’”. Since then the tribes who were not Christians began to be counted as ‘Hindus’. He further adds, “As a result, the tribal communities had to suf­fer a lot historically”.

Akash Poyam holds the view that the ‘Brahmanical ideology’ is responsible for depriving a separate religious identity for the tribes. After independence, all those who came to power were followers of the Brahmanical ideology.

The author of this chapter who met a Ulladan tribal man from Kerala during the Inaugural Function of ‘Tribes India’ (a Tribal Emporium) was shocked to hear his procla­mation: “I am a ‘Hindu’ Ulladan”.

27.5