Are the Tribals of India Hindus ???

[krsna]

 

Statesman News Service

 

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, April 5, 2005: Are tribals Hindus? -- This

contentious issue has been debated in the State Assembly today. And

interestingly the participant members -- mostly tribals -- were divided

over the issue. While a section of the members claimed that the tribals

were a part of the Hindu society, another section argued to the

contrary. Even a BJP member differed from the rest of the party which

asserted that tribals were Hindus. Raising the issue during the zero

hour, ruling BJP member Mr. Pradeep Maharathy, said a recently-retired

High Court judge, Mr. Justice M. Papanna had observed at a seminar held

at Gunupur Engineering College that the tribals were not Hindus. Such a

view had hurt the sentiment of tribals, said Mr. Maharathy. Expressing

his concern and anguish, BJP member Mr. Bharat Paik, who is himself a

tribal, said such statement would create a division in the society and

also hamper communal harmony. Condemning the view, Mr. Dharmu Gond of

the BJP argued that tribals are Hindu. Jagannath cult and tribal

culture have integral links, he said. The Gond community to which he

belongs, worships Lord Siva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesh.

 

 

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*** Hindus should be aware of the importance of this discussion

on the religious classification of India's tribal populations. It first

came to our attention when the second edition of the World Christian

Encyclopedia was published with its exhaustive population statistics

for every nation. In the first edition, the tribals were included under

Hinduism. In the second, they were broken out. The political motivation

for this, aside from reducing the number of Hindus worldwide, appears

to be in putting Hindu efforts with the tribals on the same footing as

Christian conversion efforts. Now the claim is that the tribals have

their own religion, and the Christians trying to convert them are no

different from the Hindu efforts to bring tribals more into mainstream

Hinduism.