As festivities were being held to celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year, members of tribal communities gathered under the aegis of a relatively new organisation – the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM) – and held separate rallies in Jharkhand and Tripura demanding the delisting of tribals who have converted, essentially to Christianity, from the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).
The rallies are a part of campaigns launched by the Sangh Parivar over the past few years to prevent Christian missionaries from converting tribals and also to bring them back into the Hindu fold.
While RSS affiliate Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which vehemently opposes missionaries, has been working among tribal groups since the early 1950s, the demand for delisting has gained momentum over the past two years due to the Sangh’s aggressive push.
The JSM formed around 2006, with an aim to raise the issue of delisting converted tribals, is headed by national convenor Ganesh Ram Bhagat, a former minister in the Raman Singh-led Chhattisgarh Cabinet. Its co-convenor Raj Kishore Handsa is a full-time worker of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here .