According to the Mancha, the delisting demand was first raised in 1966-67 under the leadership of MP Kartik Orang.

Later in 1970, the demand list with the recommendation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee was submitted to the prime minister. “We are holding rallies in different villages. So far, a total of 14 rallies were held in the country. More rallies will follow. Another huge rally, Chalo Delhi, will be organised. At least five lakh people will take part in it and submit a memorandum to the President of India,” said Binud Kumbang, a senior member of the Mancha.

Nearly 30 per cent of the state’s 37 lakh population (2011 census) lives within the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. The council area is non-contiguously spread across all eight districts of the state and encompasses nearly 70 per cent of the state’s geographical area, housing one third of its population, hailing from 19 tribal communities.

Mancha convener Santi Bikash Chakma said last month that Christianity thrived in the state from 1911 to 2011, claiming that since converted tribals no longer protect and preserve indigenous cultures and traditions of tribals, they should be removed from the ST list.

Protesting against the group’s rally, the CPM, Congress, People’s Congress and TIPRA Motha alleged a “conspiracy” and efforts to foment communal tension behind it.

On November 28, former minister and Gana Mukti Parishad leader Naresh Jamatia said, “It will have a devastating effect on tribals if their tribal identity is de-recognised because of conversion to Christianity. Tribal population will be reduced if Christians are denied tribal status, and proportionately their reservation benefits will also be denied in the legislature, jobs and education. We vehemently oppose it.”

Former minister Sudip Roy Barman of the Congress said Sunday that the demand was floated to disturb peace and foment ethnic discord and tension in the state, along the lines of what Manipur has experienced in recent months.

“We know who is behind this and who is providing support to this demand. The demand itself is unconstitutional, provocative and illegal. This comes from the politics of division and polarisation. Tribals, who mostly live in villages and hilly terrains, are far away from talks of development and suffer from problems of education, healthcare, safe drinking water and electricity. Now the Janajati Suraksha Mancha is trying to raise slogans with a new unconstitutional demand,” he said.

The Congress leader also said the ruling BJP and its government were mysteriously silent on the demand. BJP ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura has also not opposed it.

TIPRA Motha, the prime Opposition party in the Assembly, had criticised efforts to divide people along communal lines. In an audio message posted on social media, Pradyot Kishore said earlier this week that he had sensed a plot to use religion for dividing Tiprasa, or the tribals of the state.

In an oblique reference to the ruling BJP, Pradyot had said, “Will Hindu Tiprasa get their rights by denying Christians their rights? Or vice versa? Never. This whole conspiracy is not for Hindus, nor Christians or Buddhists. It is for getting our attention, dividing us and breaking out thansa”.

The Tripura Peoples Party last month condemned the Mancha’s protest call and said it was a “design and conspiracy” hatched by fundamentalist Hindutva forces.

This article is originally published onhttps://indianexpress.com/article/india/tripura-tribal-body-firm-on-christmas-day-rally-seeking-christian-converts-removal-from-st-list-9062596/