Babulal Marandi accuses JMM-Congress of betraying tribals on Sarna faith

Ranchi, May 27 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly and state BJP President Babulal Marandi on Tuesday accused the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress of misleading the tribal community in the name of the "Sarna Dharma Code".

Addressing a press conference at the state BJP office here, Marandi questioned why the leaders of these two parties -- who now claim to be champions of the Sarna faith -- remain silent on the growing instances of illegal religious conversions among tribals across the state.

"Why doesn’t the government explain how lakhs of tribals who traditionally followed the Sarna religion have converted to Christianity?" he asked.

Citing data from the 2011 Census, Marandi said that Jharkhand’s total population at the time was 3.29 crore, of which 86.45 lakh (26.2 per cent) were tribals.

"Out of these, nearly 14 lakh -- around 15 per cent -- had identified themselves as Christians. The question is, how did so many tribals shift from their original Sarna faith to Christianity, and why is this trend continuing?" he asked, adding that the upcoming census would provide even more clarity.

He challenged the JMM and Congress, saying that if they truly care about protecting the Sarna faith and are serious about demanding a separate religion code, they should explain what concrete steps they’ve taken to curb religious conversions.

Marandi accused both parties of deceiving the tribal community under the guise of advocating for a Sarna religion code.

He also pointed out that a Sarna code had existed in earlier censuses but was later removed by the then Congress-led central government. "The Congress should answer why this was done," he demanded.

Recalling history, Marandi said senior Congress leader Kartik Oraon had raised his voice against tribal conversions in the 1960s and 1970s but was sidelined by his own party.

"In 2014, when the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre termed the demand for a Sarna Dharma Code as 'impractical' in Parliament, Hemant Soren was comfortably sharing power with them," he added.

Marandi alleged that the tribal community in Jharkhand is currently facing widespread exploitation, and that the true character of JMM and Congress -- who he claimed are encouraging conversion and infiltration -- has now been exposed.

Both Congress and the JMM are protesting to include a separate column for Sarna followers in the census form. After Congress staged demonstrations on Monday, the JMM held similar demonstrations at district headquarters across Jharkhand on Tuesday.

--IANS

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