Two Silver Linings in the Gloomy Political Horizon of Tribal India
27.3.1 The Resolution of State Assembly of Jharkhand for ‘Sarna Adivasi Dharma Code’9
On 11 November 2020, the State Assembly of Government of Jharkhand headed by the Chief Minister Mr.
Hemant Soren unanimously passed a Government-backed resolution, viz., ‘Sarna Adivasi Dharma Code’, which could allow the tribes in that State to identify themselves with a distinct tribal religion. As and when the centre approves this ‘Sarna Code’, the Census of India would provide a separate column for accommodating the ‘Tribal Religion’, namely, ‘Sarna’ as an exclusive religion for all the tribal peoples. Currently, the Indian citizens can choose from only six religions, viz., Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In this juncture, we have to remember that a separate column for ‘tribe’ as a religious identity was included in the Census from 1871 to 1951, but was subsequently dropped.Mr. Hemant Soren, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, while addressing the Special Session of the State Assembly, said that the ‘Sarna Dharma’ of tribal peoples believe in the worship of ‘Mother Nature’ (inclusive of its ‘flora’, ‘fauna’, ‘forests’, ‘mountains’, and ‘rivers’) and can teach a lot to the world which faces serious threats such as pollution, climate change, and other associated degradation (However, the environmental activists raised concerns about the usage of this term ‘Sarna’ and limiting ‘it’ to the tribal peoples alone).
The biggest demand of this proposal is that during the ensuing Census 2021, the tribes should be given the option to write a separate (and distinct) religious code in lieu of ‘Hindu’ in the column of religion. Interestingly, the MLAs belonging to the Bhartiya Janta Party also voted in favour of this proposal, as most of them come from tribal societies.
27.3.2 The Resolution of State Assembly of Andhra Pradesh for the Code of ‘Tribal Religion’
The Jeganmohan Reddy-led Government in Andhra Pradesh has included quite recently the ‘Tribal Religion’ as an option, in the on-going household survey in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
Broadly speaking, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh has listed the ‘Tribal Religion’ as the 10th option (out of the existing 12 options) in the ‘Column for Religion’ under the title, the ‘Grama Wardu Volunteer’. Interestingly, the other options in the ‘Column for Religion’ include, ‘refused to say’, ‘not known’, ‘atheist’, and ‘others’ (see Deccan Chronicle 2020).Madhavi Nehru, a representative of the ‘National Adivasi-Indigenous Religion Co-ordination Committee’ said, “The Andhra Pradesh Government, by including ‘Tribal Religion’ column in the household survey has respected the feelings of the Adivasis. This is a stepping stone for the restoration of ‘Tribal Religion’ option, in the Census 2021”. Further, Madhavi Nehru said, “Andhra Pradesh is the first state to include ‘Tribal Religion option’ in the survey’. An appeal is made by Madhavi Nehru to the Adivasis to select the ‘Tribal Religion Option’ while furnishing the information in the household survey so as to protect the Adivsasi identity and legacy” (see Deccan Chronicle 2020).
27.4