Tribals start ghar wapsi-like initiative to lure back converts

RANCHI: Tribal religious leaders in different pockets of Jharkhand and other tribaldominated eastern states are taking “ghar wapsi-like” initiatives to bring back tribesmen, who had converted to Christianity, under the Sarna fold.

Followers of Sarna (a tribal code) are nature worshippers who do not consider themselves Hindus and have been fighting for a separate religious identity in India for decades. Lakhs of tribesmen, who were born in Sarna-following families converted to Christianity over the past century after the advent of the missionaries. These tribesmen have also been at loggerheads with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over being tagged as Hindus by the saffron outfit.

“The purpose of Sarna camps is to spread awareness about tribal customs and rituals which are unique and likely to attract the youths. The display of our rich culture lures converted tribesmen back to Sarna and stops them adopting other religions,” said Jharkhand’s Sarna dharmguru Bandhan Tigga.

He claims that the initiatives taken by Sarna committees have curtailed tribal conversion by at least 60% in the past couple of years. Not only this, the initiatives have also made at least 500 converted tribals embrace the Sarna code in Jharkhand since November 2014, Tigga says.

“At least 200 tribal families in Odisha that had converted to Christianity have embraced Sarna once again,” said Manilal Kerketta, Sarna Dharmguru from Odisha, adding that they embraced the other religion because they found it glamourous.

In 2014, thousands of Sarna followers handed over a memorandum to then Union minister P Chidambaram and demanded recognition of Sarna as a separate religion, but their pleas went unheeded. Earlier this year, about 30,000 tribesmen held a nationwide campaign for the same.

THESE TRIBESMEN HAVE ALSO BEEN AT LOGGERHEADS WITH RSS OVER BEING TAGGED AS HINDUS BY THE SAFFRON OUTFIT.