Tribal people demand recognition of their religion

The rally was part of the protests that started in 2013 June when a statue of Virgin Mary in a tribal avatar was unveiled by Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo at Singpur village near Dhurwa.

(Photo: The Hindu)--File photo of tribal protest.

Ranchi:  Thousands of tribal people following the traditional Sarna faith and their supporters assembled at a ground Ranchi on Wednesday demanding to recognize their faith as a religion.

The protesters came from Jharkhand but other neighboring states as well as Nepal and European countries.

Some said the move is to oppose conversion. Bandhan Tigga, dharmaguru of Sarna religion, said: "Our battle is against conversion of Sarna people to another religion. We want people to recognize our religion and stand up for it."

The rally was part of the protests that started in 2013 June when a statue of Virgin Mary in a tribal avatar was unveiled by Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo at Singpur village near Dhurwa.

The statue showed Mary in a red-border saree holding infant Christ in a sling-like tribal women do while working in the fields.

In August, more than 20,000 followers of Sarna religion assembled at Singpur village and were planning to bring down the statue before they were stopped by security officers.
Wednesday's rally was earlier scheduled to be held on December 25, 2013, but was postponed as the venue was unavailable then.

On Wednesday while addressing the crowd, Tigga said, "Giving the statue a tribal look will lead to conversion of Sarna people. A hundred years from now, the Sarna religion followers will start believing that Virgin Mary is Ma Sarna. It is time for the Sarna people to stand together and fight for their rights and identity peacefully."

The other major points of discussion in the rally included implementation of a Sarna religion code, formation of a Sarna religion trust board, implementation of domicile policy in the state and preventing the violation of laws the protect tribal rights.

The rally was supported by various other minority groups. S Ali, chairperson of All Muslim Youth Association said, "We are supporting the rally and the various issues. Both Sarnas and Muslims are being exploited and repressed in the state and we should work towards establishing their identity."

Source: Times of India