Fri Feb 28 15:34:46 UTC 2025: ## Tribal Groups Protest for Separate Religious Category in Census
**New Delhi, February 28, 2025** – A coalition of Scheduled Tribe (ST) organizations from across India staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi today, demanding the inclusion of a separate religious category in the upcoming census. The groups, united under the Rashtriya Adivasi Samanvay Samiti, argue that forcing tribal communities to identify under the “Others” category, as in previous censuses, negates their distinct religious identities and leads to misclassification.
Representing Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and other states, the protestors submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They highlighted how the 2001 and 2011 censuses resulted in many tribal families being incorrectly labeled as Hindu despite identifying with their own faiths. The memorandum criticized the government’s inaction on this issue over the past decade, characterizing it as a disregard for their rights and a form of discrimination.
Fulchand Tirkey of the Kendriya Sarna Samiti in Jharkhand, a leading voice in the protest, emphasized the long-standing demand for a “Sarna religion” column. The organizations contend that the lack of a distinct religious category amounts to treating tribal communities as second-class citizens, violating their constitutional right to practice their faith freely. They are calling for an “Adivasi Religion” column to be added to the existing six religious categories in the census.
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