Balurghat: Tribal community stages protest for recognition of religion

BALURGHAT: Thousands of people from the tribal community gathered and demonstrated in front of the Balurghat administrative building under the leadership of Adivasi Sengel on Sunday. The movement is said to demand recognition of the tribal ‘Sarna Religion Code-Column’ from the Central government.

The presence of women in the demonstration was noticeable. Due to this protest, the area adjacent to the Balurghat administrative building was almost blocked. Sarna Dharma is an animistic belief system that centres around nature. It emphasises the respect for natural elements, spirits and ancestors. Key beliefs and practices within Sarna Dharma include nature worship and the sarna followers deeply respect nature. The tribal community has been demanding recognition of it as a distinct religion for decades. Bishwanath Tudu, a leader of Adivasi Sengel community, said: “We worship in a natural way. We do not worship idols. We have been agitating for recognition of our Sarna religion to the Central government for a long time but unfortunately the Centre has been ignoring our demands. We were forced to go down the road without seeing any alternative. We demand the recognition of our religion immediately. If we do not get recognition of our religion, we will be forced to bring a bigger movement in the future.”

Kanti Tudu, another leader, said: “Tribal people worship nature but we have not got recognition of our religion till now. Moreover, the people of the tribal community are being harassed on various pretexts. We are strongly protesting against this harassment on Sunday through a protest rally. We demand Give Sarna Dharma Code and Take Vote.”

A large number of policemen were deployed near the administrative building to prevent any untoward incident during the protest.