Tribals led by RSS protest against religious conversion in Assam

Guwahati: A large group from tribal communities under a banner affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), held a rally in the main city here today demanding a ban on religious conversion of tribal in the state, NDTV reported.

According to political analysts, the RSS-affiliated protest must be to fuel the need for an anti-conversion law in the state too.

The Janajati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Manch organized rally believed to have participants from at least 30 districts of Assam. They demanded the de-listing of tribals who have undergone a religious conversion as Scheduled Tribes (ST), which entitles them to a reservation in jobs and other government benefits. It also demanded the amendment of Article 342A of the Constitution.

Chief of the organization Binud Kumbang said that in India, religious conversion was always a threat to ST communities since pre-independence. Foreign religions converting tribals of Assam is not a fresh event, he said.

According to him, the rate of religious conversion has increased drastically in the few decades, particularly ST people, since they are the easiest “prey” for conversion in India. Highly communal theocratic foreign religious groups target highly targets ST people, he said.

He further said that the northeast had become a major region for Christianity in India. Of the 2.78 crore Christians in India in the 2011 census, 78 lakhs are from the northeast, including Assam.

Kumbang said that the Christian population in Meghalaya kept rising from decade to decade and reached around 75 per cent in 2011. He claimed that some tribes in the state are resisting conversion.