GUWAHATI: Janajati Dharma Sangskriti Suraksha Manch (JDSSM) has called for a “Dispur Chalo” protest on March 26 as a protest against the religious conversion of the members of the scheduled tribes in the state.
Mentioning that religious conversion in India has continuously posed a threat to the scheduled tribes’ people of India since pre-independence, the organization mentioned that conversions of the tribals of Assam by foreign religions are not a new event.
According to the organization, in the last few decades, the conversion rate has increased drastically. The people belonging to the scheduled tribe are the easiest prey for conversions in India and are mainly targeted by the highly communal, theocratic foreign religious groups, the organization said.
The purpose of reservation provisions in the Indian constitution for scheduled tribes in Article 342 is to protect and preserve the tribal way of life, culture, customs, rituals, etc., as a whole and to uplift the listed ST’s socio-economic conditions by giving them reservations in education, jobs, elections, etc. Article 371 of the constitution prevents even the parliament from making acts and laws that affect the way of life and culture of certain tribal areas, as the organization pointed out.
But the fundamental purpose of the tribal reservation becomes meaningless when the members of the tribe reject their original faiths, cultures, customs, etc. and convert to another religion. And many converted STs are taking double benefits (ST and minority), the organization said and termed the practice unconstitutional and immoral.
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