Pro-Hindu group in India seeks to revoke rights for tribal Christians

Group says Christianity is a foreign-origin religion, and Christians can’t be indigenous

The festive baubles had not even been taken down in the north-eastern Indian state of Tripura, before a rally by a far-right Hindu group stole Christmas - or at least its spirit.

During the rally on Boxing Day, members of the Janajati Suraksha Manch (JSM) demanded the Indian government revoke special protections for tribal people who are Christians.

"Christianity is a foreign-origin religion" and, hence, "a Christian could never be an adivasi (an Indian term for indigenous tribe)", JSM central committee member Prakash Singh Uikey said at the Dec 26 gathering in Agartala, the capital city of Tripura.

JSM is a tribal body affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In the past six months, JSM has held rallies in tribal-dominated districts of at least 10 states, and announced plans to march to New Delhi in February.

According to JSM, tribal Christians should not qualify for affirmative-action programmes, and the group argues that they should not be entitled to benefits of both tribal and religious minorities.

But other associations for indigenous groups have denounced the rallies as an attempt to deprive already marginalised people of their entitlements.

India has the world's second-largest tribal population in the world, numbering more than 104 million and making up 8.6 per cent of the country's people.

Most live in remote rural areas and forests, but indigenous groups are a majority in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and much of the hilly north-east.