West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently made a move to recognize Sari and Sarna as separate religions through a motion in the State Assembly.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister and tribal leader Birbaha Hansda accused the BJP-led Centre of doing nothing on the long-standing demand of the tribals that these religions be given recognition but BJP chief whip Manoj Tigga opposed the motion saying it was brought without proper discussion with the community leaders and with an eye on elections, especially the upcoming Panchayat polls.
The motion acquiring political connotations isn’t without reason. Tribals in Jharkhand (with 26% ST population), Odisha (23%), Bengal (6%), Assam (12%) and Bihar (1%) have been demanding Sarna as a separate religion and even indulged in rail and road blockades in support of their demand.
THE TMC GAMEPLAN
Seeking a pan-India footprint with national ambitions, the Trinamool Congress hopes the move will help it endear to the tribals and undo any damage caused by its act of putting up a candidate against Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election last year. The TMC has been on the backfoot since then as the BJP had been portraying it as anti-tribal for this very reason.
On a mission to expand base, the TMC thinks it will not only help it in Bengal in Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur districts and in the northern part but also in other States with sizeable tribal population. At the same time, it seeks to turn the tables on the BJP-led Centre by passing the motion and demanding the Modi Government to act upon it. “We have done our part. Let’s see what the Centre does now,” Mamata had said after the motion’s passage.
Panchayat polls in Bengal are scheduled this year even as the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 are also not far away. The TMC swept the rural polls in 2018 amid large scale violence and a no-contest on a majority of seats. But alarmingly, the BJP made significant inroads into tribal-dominated villages across Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Jhargram, Purulia and parts of West Midnapore and even Birbhum, which had a large number of uncontested seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP registered its biggest win in the State winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats riding on its exceptional performance in tribal-dominated seats. It won five of the six Lok Sabha seats in the tribal districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore besides seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in North Bengal.
The TMC, however, managed to win 48 of the 94 Assembly seats in the tribal districts in the 2021 Assembly polls. Given her national aspirations, Mamata cannot afford allowing BJP to repeat its 2019 performance in 2024. The bigger the TMC’s seat share, the higher her stakes for the Prime Ministership from the Opposition camp if things come to that stage.
The TMC returned to power in 2021 for the third consecutive time, winning 215 of the 294 seats. But the BJP also improved its tally of seats by winning 75 seats compared to just three in 2016. The Modi Government’s extensive tribal outreach over the last one year helped the BJP sweep the tribal belt in Gujarat Assembly polls recently and the party is hoping to keep that momentum going in different other States this year and the 2024 finals, something that the TMC is surely aware of.
WHAT TRIBAL OUTFITS THINK?
Against the backdrop of the motion’s passage tribal outfits have decided to intensify their campaigns across the country to compel other States too to make similar decisions. This, in turn, would mount additional pressure on the BJP-led Government at the Centre to take concrete actions, they asserted.
They have decided to stage protests in the national capital in the third week of March. The campaign has been named as “Dilli (Delhi) Chalo”. A federation of tribal outfits from all over the country — Democratic Assembly of Representative Body for Adivasi Right (DARBAR) —is on the forefront organising the campaign. They have also approached several other outfits for help and claim to have received positive assurances.
“Granting recognition to separate Sarna Code is not a state subject. The State is nowhere involved here. Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion to every Indian citizen. And, accordingly, six religious codes are in force. The Jains with minimal population too have been granted a separate religious code. But the Adivasis, whose total population is nearly 20 crore (around 11 crore as per 2011 Census), continue to struggle to safeguard their religious and cultural identity,” DARBAR chief convener and Jharkhand statehood movement activist Surya Singh Besra told The Indian Tribal.
He alleged that the Modi Government is being guided by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that firmly holds that Adivasis or Sarnas are Hindus, which is factually wrong. They call Adivasis as Vanvasis. The seats reserved (nominated) for the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha were dissolved (abolished) by the Modi government at the behest of RSS. “Then, how dare Narendra Modi go against the wishes of RSS headquarters and grant Sarna and Sari Codes,” he questioned.
Chief of another confederation of tribal outfits Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (ASA) and former Lok Sabha member Salkhan Murmu said, “Seeing Droupadi Murmu on President’s chair is a matter of great pride for all of us. We are aware of the Constitutional provisions and President’s powers and limitations. The Adivasis should no more be taken for granted. In the coming elections, we will be voting for those who really care for us. Earlier, the Hemant Soren government too passed a similar bill in the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha, which is pending with the Centre for approval.”
“Mamata Di (Banerjee) has intelligently tried to make a dent into the tribal vote bank after passing the motion at a special assembly session. But, it is intriguing why her Trinamool Congress MPs did not ever raise these issues in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,” wondered ASA Purulia zone unit chief Ganesh Murmu. ASA Odisha unit president Narendra Hembrom, for his part, maintained that mass campaigns would be intensified in Odisha too to compel the Naveen Patnaik government pass a similar bill in the State assembly.
Of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, 47 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. And of the 4,109 Vidhan Sabha seats in various states across the country, 554 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The game is on.
