After the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand passed a bill to recognize the unique Sarna faith of tribal (or indigenous) people, the state is now petitioning the federal government to do the same. Such a new law would include the Sarna religion as a new category on the 2021 Census for the first time.

Tribal communities in Jharkhand have sought their own category in the census for quite some time rather than be counted in the “Other” category, which many governments have interpreted as “Hindu.”

Jharkhand unanimously passed the “Sarna Adivasi Dharma Code Bill” (Sarna Tribal Religion Code Bill) on Nov. 18. The state government said a separate religion code for the tribals — indigenous forest dwelling communities — would safeguard the culture and religious freedom of all the tribals and not only those following the Sarna faith. 

The Sarna faith, named after the tribe of the same name, is practiced by many of the state’s tribals but not all. Followers are worshippers of nature who pray to the trees and hills to protect the forests. An unknown number of the tribals who follow this faith have converted to Christianity.

In India, religious identity is required for all kinds of legal paperwork, from home leases to bank loans to marriages, and religion can affect what laws apply to you. Tribals can benefit from various government programs if they identify as Hindu or Other, but those benefits are removed if they convert to Christianity or Islam.

Jharkhand is currently ruled by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress alliance with Chief Minister Hemant Soren of JMM at the helm. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, or Jharkhand Liberation Front, is a state-level political party.

The tribal groups hailed the government’s decision and said that by passing the Sarna religion code, the government had met their long-pending demand. They said a separate code will ensure a more accurate recording of the population of Sarna tribals. 

“We are ready to continue our fight for the rights of tribals. Members of the tribal communities must work together to build a better future for them,” said Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. “We have prepared a special action plan for this."

Former Jharkhand minister and member of Jharkhand assembly Bandhu Tirkey said the Jharkhand government has taken a laudable step by bringing a separate religion code bill for the tribals.  

“It is now the responsibility of the central government to make a provision of separate religion code for the tribals at the national level,” he said.

A Declining Tribal Population

The government of Jharkhand has said that in the year 1931 the tribals were 38.3% of the total population of the state, but their population plummeted to 26.02% during the 2011 Census. 

One believed reason for the dwindling recorded number of tribals is that they do not have a separate religion code. 

It is estimated that in the 2011 Census, 4.2 million people from Jharkhand and about 60 million people from across the country mentioned their religion as Sarna, which was then included in the “Other” section. Now, there is hope that Sarna would get a separate religious identity if the Union government also accords its sanction to the resolution passed by Jharkhand. 

Currently, during the Census exercise, a person has to choose from among six options (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh) under the religion column and those not choosing one of these six options are included in the “Other” section. If the government approves the new Sarna code, Census 2021 would have to make space for a new religion.

In the 1951 Census, there was a separate column for religion called "Tribe," which was later removed. According to tribal leaders, after that change in the government, the tribal population has embraced different religious identities, causing a big loss to the community.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — a Hindu nationalist volunteer organization — interprets all who fall in the “Other” category as belonging to the Hindu faith. In Jharkhand, over the years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained that tribals are “by nature” Hindus.

Hindu groups oppose bill

Currently, the Hindu nationalist BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is in power in India. 

Many radical Hindu organizations believe tribals are Hindus, and the latest resolution is a ploy to mislead tribals and influence them to abandon Hinduism. The Hindu outfits have also blamed Christian organizations and churches for converting tribals to Christianity. Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti, a radical Hindu organization, has demanded that Modi not sanction the tribal religion code.

But while some Hindu outfits oppose the bill, the Janata Dal, an ally of the ruling BJP party, has extended its support. The BJP has formed a government in coalition with Janata Dal in the neighboring state of Bihar.

Salkhan Murmu, the state chief of the Janata Dal in Jharkhand, has said that if the Central government doesn’t approve the resolution passed in the state assembly in favor of a Sarna code, he would organize a nationwide protest.

Arbind Oraon, chief convener of National Tribal Indigenous Religion Coordination Committee, a tribal group in Jharkhand, hailed Chief Minister Soren for passing the Sarna religion code but expressed apprehension that the government would not sanction the bill as it had been sent through only one state.

He said the Jharkhand government must persuade other states with tribal populations to pass similar religious codes in their state assemblies and send it to the Center for final sanction.

“If more than three or four state governments pass similar religious codes, it will build pressure on the Centre to grant religious code to Adivasi Sarna,” Oraon said.

Tribal leader Chhotubhai Basava in the western state of Gujarat said that now Soren should lead the tribals at the national level. He suggested instead of the Sarna Dharma Code, one should think of a name that would be acceptable to the tribals across the country and represents the country’s indigenous communities instead of just the Sarna tribe.

Shuriah Niazi is a journalist based in India. He works on a broad spectrum of issues for a variety of media outlets, but specializes in social, religious, environmental and health issues, especially as they related to women. Shuriah Niazi is on Twitter at @shuriahn.