RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, July 3: Former BJP MP and Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (ASA) chief Salkhan Murmu today wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu demanding Sarna religion code in the census form before any discussion on the uniform civil code (UCC).
At present, Murmu in his letter said that his organization neither supports nor opposes the UCC as no clear-cut draft has come out but made it clear that his organization will stand by the Indian Constitution.
The ASA is operational in 400 tribal dominated blocks of seven states including Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh and is struggling for social, religious, economic and political empowerment of tribal under constitutional and democratic set-up of India.
“Under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, when everyone else has been given the religious status, why have we not been given the Sarna Dharma? It is like a chain of religious slavery on us since we are not Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. We do not have the knowledge of Varna……….In the 2011 census, the number of nature worshiping tribals is about 50 lakhs and those of Jain religion have registered about 44 lakhs. So, we are still being treated unfairly? We are not Hindus. Not even legally a Hindu…..But the way Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists etc. are walking in harmony with Hindus, so having the wisdom of Sarna, we too can consider walking in harmony with Hindus. We see the danger of our progress, identity, belonging to foreign religion and foreign language-culture. We get cut off from our roots…..” the letter reads.
