Jharkhand: Tribal activists threaten self-immolation during PM Modi’s visit on November 15 if Sarna is not declared a separate religion
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said earlier this week that Prime Minister Modi is welcome in Jharkhand but the decision to recognize the ‘Sarna’ religion is still under consideration by the Centre.
Jharkhand News: Tribal activists in Jharkhand have threatened self-immolation if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not make an announcement declaring Sarna a separate religion during his visit to the state on November 15.
The threat was made by two tribal activists of the ‘Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan’ (ASA), President Salkhan Murmu said in a statement on Saturday.
In this bid to bring about recognition of Sarna as a separate religion, tribal activists will also observe fast in Jharkhand and other states between 10 am and 1 pm on the day of the Prime Minister’s visit.
Prime Minister Modi will visit Ulihatu, the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda, in the state’s Khunti district on his birth anniversary on November 15, which is also Jharkhand Foundation Day.
Murmu, a former lawmaker, said the decision to sacrifice was taken independently by two ASA members.
“We expect the Prime Minister to make an announcement on our long-standing demand for recognition of a separate ‘Sarna’ religion… If he does not clarify the Centre’s stand on our demand, the two activists have decided to immolate themselves stiches. 4pm in Ulihatu and Bokaro,” Murmu said.
On November 8, ASA organized a meeting in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, demanding the central government to recognize Sarna as a separate religion.
Incidentally, the Center has declared November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ since 2021.
Murmu said that majority of the states in the country such as Punjab, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were formed on linguistic basis to preserve their cultures, identities and languages but Santhali, despite being recognized in 2003 under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, was not appointed. the official language of Jharkhand to date, although it was carved out of Bihar after a long tribal movement for statehood.
ASA leaders from Assam, Bengal and Jharkhand decided at a meeting on Friday to hold a rail and road blockade on December 30 in support of the Sarna religion.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said earlier this week that Prime Minister Modi is welcome in Jharkhand but the decision to recognize the ‘Sarna’ religion is still under consideration by the Centre.
“We have already sent all the papers (regarding the demands for a separate Sarna religious code for tribes) to him… Now he has to decide on it,” Soren said on Thursday.
The recognition of Sarna religion is necessary to identify tribes as different from the followers of other religions and ensure protection of their constitutional rights, he said.
Soren had in a letter to the Prime Minister in September sought recognition of the ‘Sarna’ code for tribals, claiming that their population in the region has fallen from 38 percent to 26 percent in the last eight decades.
(With PTI inputs)