Church destroyed identity of Tripura indigenous people, says Janajati Suraksha Manch leader

'After conversion, do the tribals follow their old tradition, culture and custom? That's why we want the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to be rolled back from the converted people,' said Janajati Suraksha Manch leader Prakash Singh Uikey.

Agartala: Accusing the church of destroying the identity of indigenous people, Janajati Suraksha Manch (JSM) leader Prakash Singh Uikey on Tuesday said they will not allow those who are attempting to convert tribal families to succeed. The JSM is an RSS-backed organisation.

Uikey said the day is not far when people will have to visit museums in order to witness the culture of two ethnic tribes, the Reangs and Tripuris. According to Uikey, the church has destroyed the 'unique identity' of the tribals by using conversion as a tool.

"For the past 70 years, tribals who continued to adhere to their own customs, rituals, beliefs, traditions and culture have been deprived of receiving benefits guaranteed by the Constitution under Article 342 because of conversion," he said while addressing a rally here demanding the delisting of converted tribals.

"After conversion, do the tribals follow their old tradition, culture and custom? That's why we want the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to be rolled back from the converted people," the JSM central committee member said.

Uikey also made a reference to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which used to grant special status to Jammu & Kashmir.

"If the Centre could abrogate Article 370 and amend the CrPC and IPC, why converted tribals can't be delisted from ST status? We hope the government, which has established a separate tribal welfare ministry, will delist the converted tribals from ST status in 2024," he said.

The rally, which was initially slated on Christmas, was postponed for a day following a request by Chief Minister Manik Saha.