PRESS RELEASE
Heartiest greetings and thanks to all the respected Media personals, you all have given your valuable time and graced our press conference today. Religious conversion in India is continuously posing great threats to the scheduled tribes’ people of India since pre-independence. The conversions of tribal’s of Assam by foreign religions are not a new event but in the last few decades the conversion rate has increased drastically. Particularly the scheduled tribe people are the easiest prey or victim of conversions in India mainly targeted by the highly communal theocratic foreign religious groups. Such conversions are affecting tribal communities like slow poisons- a silent killer, and the poison has started killing their original belief and faiths, culture, customs and rituals performed in Birth, Marriage and Death of a person.
LOSS OF CULTURE MEANS LOSS OF IDENTITY:
* The purpose of reservation provisions in the Indian constitution for scheduled tribes in Article 342 is to protect and preserve tribal’s way of life, culture, customs, rituals etc. as a whole and to uplifting the listed ST’s socio-economic conditions by giving them reservations in education, jobs, elections etc.
* Article 371 of our constitution prevents even the parliament from making Acts and laws which affect the way of life and culture of certain tribal areas.
* The fundamental purpose of the tribal reservation becomes meaningless when the tribe rejects their original faiths, culture, customs etc. and convert to another religion.
*A Basic question that rises here is, when a person changes his faith and being converted to other religion, how he could maintain the original- culture, traditions and way of life followed by the community.
* Is one who loses the community’s identity eligible to avail for the benefits extended for protecting and maintaining their original identity?
* Faiths and Rituals (Birth, Marriages and death) are the fundamental elements or characteristics or identity of any community/ tribe
* Faith and Culture are inseparable, if separated it will become like-
* Body without soul
* Tree without roots
* Flower without fragrance.
* Double Benefits (ST& Minority) taken by many Converted St’s are unconstitutional immoral.
Therefore to secure ST community’s existence with their original culture, customs, rituals and languages, Assam Pradesh “Janajati Dharma Sangskriti Suraksha Manch” is organising a massive rally “Chalo Dispur” on 12th of February 2023 at Khnapara Field at 10.00am. Where, more than one lakh tribal people will participate from various districts (30) of Assam wearing their traditional attires. We are not against any religion or caste, but to protect our “identity with dignity and originality”. So, we are demanding #Delisting of converted St’s names from ST lists, who are not following prescribed tribe’s- culture customs, rituals etc. by amending Article 342 and equalise with Article 341 for Scheduled Caste (if from ST lists any SC person being converted to any other religion, automatically the person get delisted from SC reservation). A memorandum will be send to honourable President and the Prime Minister of India for the same. It is our sincere request to all, especially to the media personals to help to fight and saving poor ST people from getting swallowed by very organised, communal and theocratic foreign religions. Else many ST community’s identity and traits will be extinct in no time.