New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) The Congress’ Lohardaga MP Sukhdeo Bhagat on Monday demanded that Sarna, a faith followed by Adivasis, be added to the religion column in the Census so that their numbers can be known to the government.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, Bhagat said it is about the dignity of the Adivasi community which has a different religion and traditions.
Sarnaism is a religious faith predominantly followed by indigenous communities in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region across states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. It revolves around nature worship.
“This is a matter of the dignity of Adivasis… There are crores of Adivasis in India whose religious traditions, identity, faith and fundamental rights are being denied because in the Census there is no column for the nature-worshipping Adivasi faith,” Bhagat said.
“The government is counting animals and tigers but Adivasis are not counted. This is an irony. To protect the rights of Adivasis, I request that their religious belief, the Sarna religious code, should be included in the Census,” he said.
In the morning, Bhagat also staged a demonstration in the Parliament complex, displaying placards demanding that a column on the Sarna religious code be added to the Census document.
Meanwhile, Raj Kumar Roat, Bharat Adivasi Party MP from Rajasthan’s Banswara, raised concern over forest land being given to private corporations for mining.
Raising the issue in the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, he said, “In the last five years, 18,922 hectares of forest land had been given to 189 companies. We are facing the brunt of pollution and talking about planting trees, but forest land is being given to private companies for mining.” “This should be stopped and tribals should not be displaced,” he said. PTI AO DIV DIV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.