Talking to media on the sidelines of Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal (half yearly executive body meeting) RSS sah sarkaryavah Dr Krishna Gopal said that tribals are Hindus and all of them come under the Hindu code bills. “Demanding separate code for tribal or sarna is tampering with the spirit of constitution,” he said.
Gopalji was responding to a question on tribal community protesting union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram in Ranchi on Saturday for his statement that tribals are Hindus. “There is no denial of the fact that tribals are Hindus and that the minister is right in saying so,” he said.
During the meeting RSS thinktank expressed concern over the unnatural growth of Christian population in many districts of the nation which according to them indicate an organised and targeted religious conversion activity by some vested interests. Gopalji said that in one decade Christian population of Arunanchal Pradesh has grown by almost 13%, “whereas in Manipur the share of religions of Bhartiya origin which was more than 80% in 1951 has come down to 50% in 2011 census,” he said.
Earlier in the day members of Adivasi Sarna Mahasabha under leadership of former Congress MLA Deo Kumar Dhan displayed black flags to union minister Jual Oram to protest his statement of similar nature. Dhan during a public meeting in Jamshedpur, almost four months ago had said that tribals are Hindus.
However soon after RSS reiterated its stand about tribal community sharp reactions came from the tribal quarters. Former chief minister and JMM central vice president Hemant Soren said that RSS was trying to convert secular India into a Hindu nation. “They are trying to dictate terms to all other communities and we will protest it sternly,” he said.
Dhan on the other hand expressed shock over the stand of RSS and asked them to remain away from tribal matters. “RSS cannot be decision makers in a secuilar country. It seems that the ongoing demand for separate religious code for tribal in different state must be brought under a common banner and all 12 crore tribals of the country should raise unanimous demand for a common tribal code for their religion, which is based on the concept of nature worship,” he said.