About 50,000 tribal men and women dressed in traditional attire gathered at the historic Red Fort on May 24 for the half-day “Tribal Cultural Conclave.” The rally called for the de-listing of tribal people who converted to Christianity and Islam from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category through an amendment to Article 342 of the Indian Constitution.
Participants argued that Christianity and Islam do not have a caste system like Hinduism and asserted that tribals who left their original faith should not continue receiving special affirmative benefits granted under the 1950 constitutional order.
Scheduled Tribe status constitutionally recognizes indigenous and tribal groups as among the most socio-economically disadvantaged communities in India, according to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The status provides constitutional protections, reservation policies, and specialized administrative safeguards aimed at ensuring development and representation for tribal populations.
The rally was organized by the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM), also known as the Tribal Protection Forum, a tribal body backed by the hardline Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent organization of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Federal Home Minister Amit Shah attended the event as the chief guest and urged tribal communities to preserve their traditional faith and cultural practices. The program also commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, the prominent tribal freedom fighter who resisted British colonial rule.
Speakers at the conclave demanded that the federal government enact a new law redefining eligibility for Scheduled Tribe status. They alleged that religious conversions to Christianity and Islam posed an existential threat to tribal culture, heritage, and identity.
The rally immediately triggered resistance from at least 100 tribal groups across the country. Tribal leader and former minister Geetashree Oraon criticized the event as a political attempt to divide and weaken tribal communities.
Oraon alleged that the organizers had played little or no role during tribal struggles against encroachment on forests, water sources, and land rights. She also rejected what she described as a political effort to absorb tribal communities into the broader Hindu framework by labeling them “Vanabasi” or forest dwellers instead of “Adivasi,” meaning indigenous people.
On May 25, tribal members of the opposition Indian National Congress staged a counter-rally in Delhi against the BJP-backed gathering held a day earlier. Police reportedly detained several protesters who participated in what authorities described as an “unauthorized rally.”
Father Nicholas Barla, former secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Tribal Affairs, condemned the de-listing campaign and warned that it posed a direct threat to tribal communities and constitutional safeguards.
“The delisting move is a conspiracy of the highest order,” Barla told UCA News. “It is not only aimed at removing Christian tribals from the Scheduled Tribe list but could ultimately undermine tribal populations, scheduled areas, and constitutional protections that safeguard indigenous communities.”
Barla further stated that the campaign was “rooted more in politics than religion” and accused its backers of attempting to weaken tribal rights and constitutional protections. He said tribal leaders supporting the movement were being used to divide communities between Christian and non-Christian tribals, describing such divisions as an existential threat to tribal unity.
“They have nothing to gain but everything to lose, while political forces will be gainers,” he said.
Ratan Tirkey, a former member of the Jharkhand state Tribal Advisory Committee, described the decade-old campaign as politically motivated. Tirkey said religion and caste were separate issues but alleged that many poor tribal people had been misled into conflating the two.
He accused the RSS-backed forum of deliberately dividing tribal communities along religious lines.
“They are pitting tribal people against one another, so they can eventually gain control over tribal resources, culture, and traditions,” Tirkey said.
Delhi-based tribal activist Shanti Beck also criticized the movement, alleging that the JSM was established in 2006 specifically to promote a narrative around alleged Christian missionary activities and conversions among tribal communities.
“This is part of a larger political strategy,” Beck told UCA News. “Today tribal Christians are being targeted. Tomorrow it may be tribal Hindus or followers of tribal faith like Sarna.”
The confrontation surrounding the Delhi rally has exposed deepening divisions over tribal identity, religious conversion, and constitutional protections in India, with political, religious, and tribal groups now locked in an increasingly volatile debate over the future of Scheduled Tribe rights and representation.
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