In November 2020, the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand passed a resolution seeking the inclusion of ‘Sarna’ as a separate religion for the Census 2021[1]. A similar yet different motion was passed by the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal in February 2023, seeking a religion tag to ‘Sari’ & ‘Sarna Dharam’.[2]
For the past few decades, the tribal communities of the Chhota Nagpur plateau have been demanding that they should be included in a separate religion, and their customs, rituals, and other societal functions as regards their communities should be governed as per the separate religion.
classifications
The reason behind such a demand is that presently the tribals are being classified either as the Hindus or the Christians or the Others. These classifications, according to them, have resulted in a Cultural Identity Crisis. They contend that their traditions, societal framework, beliefs, customs, rituals, and morals are entirely different from those of the Hindus, Christians & others.
• They also don’t share a common link between them and the other religious communities. They do hold a different view as to the creation of the universe, the concept of God, the mode of worship, and the role of their belief in their day-to-day activities.
The inclusion of tribals in the Hindu category by the Govt., the recent spike in the conversions of tribals to Christianity, and the inability to hold their forest rights due to the imposition of strict regulations by the forest authorities, have raised concerns in the Chhota Nagpur circles regarding the protection of tribals’ religious and cultural identity.
Jal-Jangal-Jameen
Nature, colloquially “Jal-Jangal-Jameen” is at the core of this issue. The Nature is being worshipped by the tribals. But with the discovery of rich minerals in the regions of tribal settlements, the Govts. have allowed (subject to law) the construction of dams, mining activities, and cutting down of trees to meet the demands of the surging population.
As a result of this, the tribals are gradually losing their forest rights, and these forest rights are intimately attached to their life, culture, and beliefs. There is a feeling among the tribals that due to the lack of governmental recognition of their religion, all these incidents are happening.
A number of tribal organizations are also mobilizing thousands of tribals for this cause.
It is in light of these events that the tribals of the abovementioned region have initiated movements to acquire a separate religious status for their communities.
But there remain certain legal issues attached to this Code. It is important that those people who are fighting for this cause should first address these legal topics, which the writer intends to highlight via this article.
What is “Sarnaism”?
The Sarna is a faith, followed mostly by the tribals of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The followers of this faith worship Mother Nature which shall include, the Water, Forests, and Lands.[3] The majority of its followers are tribals who also believe in totemism.[4] The believers of the Sarna faith offer oblation to their ancestors. And idol worshipping is not followed by the tribals following such faith.
The fundamental part or the major component, constituting the Sarna faith is of worshipping Mother Nature. There are Sacred Groves in every tribal village. These sacred groves, according to them, protect their villages, families, agricultural fields, cattle, water bodies, and vice versa from evil/dark spirits. The followers of the Sarna faith worship these sacred groves.
What is the “Sarna Code”?
The Sarna Code stands for a set of laws that will recognize a new religion based on Sarnaism, separated from the Hinduism/Christianity/Other religion, and may redefine the various laws pertaining to the land, marriage, divorce, etc. which is currently applicable over the tribals.
Although no such draft of the code is available in the public domain and the organizations fighting for this cause are yet to release any document in this regard, up to a certain extent, we can assume and analyze the legal hurdles associated with this issue, considering the organizations’ demands.
Reference
[1] THE HINDU, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/jharkhand-assembly-passes-resolution-on-sarna-code/article33081116.ece (last visited Apr. 5, 2023).
[2] THE ECONOMIC TIMES, https://m.economictimes.com/news/india/tmc-brings-motions-in-assembly-for-religion-tag-to-sari-sarna-dharma/articleshow/98024180.cms (last visited Apr. 5, 2023).
[3] OUTLOOK, https://www.outlookindia.com/national/explained-what-is-the-sarna-religious-code-and-what-are-its-followers-demanding–news-230860, (last visited Apr. 5, 2023).
[4] Vikrant Kumar & B Mohan Reddy, Status of Austro-Asiatic groups in the peopling of India: An explanatory study based on the available prehistoric, linguistic and biological evidence, INDIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (15 April 2003), https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jbsc/028/04/0507-0522.