‘In census, all should write their religion as Hindu’—VHP president’s appeal

Alok Kumar claimed there was a campaign asking certain sections like Lingayats, SCs and STs to not identify themselves as Hindus. In 2011, 82 faiths identified themselves as 'Other'.

File photo of VHP president Alok Kumar | ANI

New Delhi: In the upcoming census exercise, “everyone should write their religion as Hindu”: That’s what the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said.

Explaining the rationale behind the appeal, VHP president Alok Kumar told ThePrint: “There is a particular context to this appeal that everyone should identify as Hindu. There is a campaign going on in certain sections of Hindu society, particularly Lingayats in Karnataka, Sarnas and sections of Jatavs and in general amongst the SCs and STs that they are not part of Hindu society and should not identify themselves as Hindus in the upcoming census exercise.”

“We want to tell them that this is an effort to divide society and we are Hindus and proud Hindus and we should identify as that,” he added.

The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases—the first is the House Listing and Housing Census, between April and September 2026; and the second, Population Enumeration (PE), in February 2027.

The first phase, from April to September 2026, will be conducted over a period of 30 days, at the convenience of state governments.

The issue of identifying as a Hindu in the census exercise was discussed in the Central Margdarshak Mandal meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which took place on 9 December in Delhi.

In Census 2011, 82 faiths identified themselves under the head ‘Other Religions and Persuasions’ (ORP) in India. This is separate from the six religions of India—Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain.

ThePrint has reported that in November 2020, the Jharkhand Assembly had approved a resolution to include Sarna—a form of nature worship, in which followers believe in ‘jal, jungle, zameen’ (water, forest, land) and offer prayers to trees and hills with the belief that they are also the protectors of forest areas—as a separate religion in the Census 2021.

Elaborating on the agenda of the meet, Kumar said the meeting would continue on 10 December, and a host of other issues concerning Hindu society would be discussed.

Kumar said that for world peace there is a need to combat the “jihadist mindset” and the issue was discussed in the meeting.

“Jihad does not stem merely from poverty or ignorance, but from religious fanaticism. The investigation into the Red Fort attack proves that jihadists are emerging from among the well-educated, those with good incomes, and those who hold respected positions in society,” he said.

In addition to this, Kumar pointed out that the criteria for determining religious minorities needed to be reviewed and stressed that it cannot be decided solely on the basis of population.

“It must also be examined whether followers of any religion have suffered any backwardness or persecution due to which they should be granted certain privileges,” he said.

Kumar said the meeting also discussed that the Religious Freedom Law should be implemented across the entire country.

During the meeting, which was attended by a number of saints from across the country, a VHP spokesperson spoke about the “current challenges before Hindu society” and urged guidance from the saints, Kumar said.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)