Sarna Tribes in Jharkhand forced to protest.....

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Anywhere else such a huge gathering would have attracted Press headlines but not in our Secular State – when they belong to majority community…

I had earlier written on Sarna tribal community from Jharkhand.  To them, Lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important deity. He is responsible for the creation of the Universe  besides acting as  protector. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white.

Back in their land they are protesting depiction of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth.  Dharmguru (priest) of Sarna society Bandhan Tigga said, "Anybody can wear a white sari with red border but making Mother Marry wear it seems to be a tactic to convert the Sarna tribals into Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct." The Sarnas worship Mother Nature or Maa Sarna. Tigga said the Christians are trying to establish Mother Mary as Maa Sarna to confuse the people of Sarna society. "Red border means a lot in Sarna dharm. Our women wear white sari with red border during auspicious times. If the idol of Mother Mary is shown in the getup of a tribal woman then 100 years from now people will think that Mother Mary was a tribal from Jharkhand," he said.

Their appeals have fallen in deaf ears and the adamancy is  forcing them to agitate….

Religious leaders of the Sarna tribe have announced an agitation this December demanding that the statue of Virgin Mary clad in white red bordered saree and holding baby Jesus  be removed from a Catholic parish church in Singpur at a Nagri village some 25km from Ranchi. Terming it religious ulgulan (revolution), some 15,000 Sarna tribal groups assembled at Singhpur village, 25km from city limits, protesting against the statue for its “misleading tribal look”.

On August 24, Ranchi district administration announced the enforcement of Section 144, IPC, on Sunday from 4am to 10pm. Barricades put up at a 25m radius from the church sealed all approach lanes. Tribal protesters, including women dressed in white saris with red borders, started a 6km march from Dravid Ashram on the other end of the Dhurwa dam to reach Singhpur. Amid heavy security bandobast, including two riot control vehicles, the protesters assembled some 200m from the church to voice their objection to the statue.

Tribal women usually wear the white-and-red sari on festive occasions. They also carry their children on one side in a sling. Tribal religious leader Bandhan Tigga pointed out this resemblance with the Mother Mary statue. “Mariyam is dark-complexioned and wearing a red-and-white sari. She is holding a baby Jesus in the tribal style. This is a conspiracy to convert innocent tribals into Christianity,” he alleged. “We don’t interfere with anyone’s religion. Why would anyone misinterpret, misinform and mislead ours,” septuagenarian Kusum Tirkey, clad in white sari with a red border, said.

Around 3pm, protesters made a move towards the church, but were stopped by security.  The rally dispersed after 6pm. Nagri BDO Rohit Singh confirmed late in the evening that “no untoward incident had occurred”.“We don’t want to take the law in our hand. We’ve assembled to show our unity and pass few resolutions and a future course of action. We are trying to meet the chief minister and governor with our memo tomorrow (Monday). On December 25, we will hold a massive global tribal rally at Morabadi,” Tigga said.

To them it clearly is a proselytizing ploy – depicting Mary as a tribal woman.  The Sarna tribals have tried all in the realms of peaceful possibility to convey their moods to the Church authorities … who are not willing to listen.  The talks have broken down because the Church has ignore the request.  Sarna tribals are apprehensive that this  is a  deviant ungainly strategy for conversion and to attack their distinct culture.   They are fighting and showing their opposition  not just this but other attacks on  Hindu faith in Bible Society publications which give false accounts of  Hindu religious practices describing them as uncivilised’… the missionaries calling Hindu believers as ‘sinners’ must stop…..

More than 27 Sarna religious groups have publicly demanded the removal of the statue, unveiled by the Archbishop of Ranchi Cardinal Telesphore Toppo. The Catholic church has so far refrained from commenting  and have held to whatever they have been doing ignoring the requests and appeals.  They are bracing for trouble and are intolerant to secular principles that they expect others to practice. 

Sad that attacks on Hinduism and its practices continue - on one side, their practices are ridiculed at the same time - other religions try to mimic them by holding 'rath festivals' 'hoisting of flag during annual festivals' and the like.... Hinduism and its practices continue but at the same time Christianity tries to follow local practices including ‘the Rath festival, hoisting of flag on the mast and more’ to give a local flavour to their foreign practices.