SARNA TRIBALS

1. Context 

2. Key points

• Sarnaism is a religious belief based on worship at Sarna, the sacred groves in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• For the last many years several protests and meetings have been held by various tribal groups in Jharkhand and elsewhere pushing the same demand.
• Last February, then Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das too had announced in the Assembly a move to recommend Sarna as a separate religious code.
• However, the JMM-led Soren government has finally gone ahead and done it.
• The letter sent by the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister says the population of tribals in the state had declined from 38.3 per cent in 1931 to 26.02 per cent in 2011.
• It cited that one of the reasons for this was tribals who go to work in different states were not being recorded in the Census.
• In other states, they are not counted as Tribals, the letter said.
• It added that the separate code will ensure the recording of their population.

3. About Sarna religion

• The followers of the Sarna faith believe pray to nature.
• The holy grail of the faith is "Jal, Jungle, Zammen" (water, Forest, Land) and its followers pray to the trees and hills while many follow the Hindu religion, some have converted to Christianity this has become one of the planks of demanding a separate code "to save religious identity" as various tribal organisations put it.
• It is believed that 50 lahks tribal in the entire country put their religion as "Sarna" in the 2011 census, although it was not a code.

4. Conversion to Christianity

• Many of the tribals who follow this faith have later converted to Christianity the state has more than 4 per cent Christians most of whom are tribals.
• Some who still follow the Sarna faith believe the converted tribals are taking the benefits of reservation as a minority, as well as the benefits, are given to Schedule Tribes.
• They also believe that benefits should be given specifically to them and not to those who have converted.
• The issue reached a crescendo in May 2013 when a statue was installed in Singhpur on the outskirts of the Ranch showing Mother Mary in a white saree with a red border, her hair in a bun, bangles around her wrists and carrying infant Jesus on a sling like a tribal woman.
• Followers and leaders of the Sarna faith saw it as a "tactic" to convert tribals to Christianity.

5. Separate code

• The protection of their language and history is an important aspect of tribals. Between 1871 and 1951, the tribals had a different code.
• However, it was changed around 1961-62. Experts say that when today the entire world is focusing on reducing pollution and protecting the environment, it is prudent that Sarna becomes a religious code as the soul of this religion is to protect nature and the environment.

For Prelims & Mains