Former Minister of the Union ArvinD Netam. File. | Photo Credit: Neither
The veteran tribal leader and former Minister of the Union Arvind Netam threw his weight for the demand of certain neighborhoods that those who transform their religion were excluded from the planned tribes (STS).
On Saturday he spoke to journalists in Raipur, a long -time former congressman who has now left active politics, said his attitude to this issue “changed” because it helped to “control religious conversions”. Mr. Netam called a press conference in the state capital two days after participating in the final ceremony of Rashtriya Swayamsewak 25 -day training camp in Nagpur, “Karyakarta Vikas Varg – Dwitiya”.
“Their policy to eliminate … At first I was against it, but later I felt that it was one way to stop religious conversions, so we accepted that we agree with you (RSS).
The elimination refers to the requirement to remove indigenous people transformed into Christianity and Islam from the STS list. One of the earliest supporters of the idea in independent India was the late cardik Oraon, a former Congress MP, who unsuccessfully attempted to abolish Christian tribes in 1968 by introducing a bill in parliament. In recent years, votes have been supported in the Sarguja area in Chhattisgarh and the southern tribal heart Bastar, various groups under Sangh Parivar.
The problem goes hand in hand with opposition to religious conversions and is mainstream. Chhattisgarh The main minister Vishnu deo Sai in the video call in May referred to Oraon’s attempts and said that the elimination could prevent conversion. His colleague Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former main Minister Champai Soren of Jharkhand said in April that Adivasis should be discarded, which was transferred to another religion.
When Hind asked why he changed his attitude to this matter and why he was against it before, Mr. Netam said he was concerned that the number of chairs reserved for tribes (29 in the 90-member) could decrease. “I was worried about reservations that the seats could be reduced as a result of the elimination. But after studying, I found that only one or two seats would be reduced in Chhattisgarh,” he said.
Outside the reservation
Clamor in support of the elimination mostly concerned reservations of jobs, education and promotional events that the Indian Constitution guarantees for STS. However, legal experts and activists are afraid that this could have far -reaching consequences beyond mere advantages, as the elimination may expand to other areas, including soil, atrocity and oppression.
In addition, the impact of possible elimination – which is largely theoretical at this point – would be felt outside Chhattisgarh. Netam, who answered a question about her possible consequences for the Christian majority community in the northeast, said it would have a small impact in these areas as a stunning majority of the population, unlike other areas, including Chhattisgarh, which have a mixed population.
Published – June 7, 2025 20:41 IS IS
