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Tribals from 13 U.P. districts offer prayer at KV temple in Varanasi

Around 1,111 tribal community members in Uttar Pradesh sent a letter to PM Narendra Modi, urging him to expel those who converted to other religions from the Scheduled Tribe list. They claim that these individuals are taking advantage of reservation meant for ST members.

Updated on: Oct 29, 2023, 22:45:56 IST
By , VARANASI
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Around 1,111 members of tribal community on Sunday sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him that those who converted to other religions should be expelled from the list of Scheduled Tribe (ST) as they were allegedly taking advantage of reservation meant for ST members whereas such people were no more part of the community.

A group of tribals at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham after offering prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi on Oct 29. (Rajesh Kumar/HT)
A group of tribals at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham after offering prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi on Oct 29. (Rajesh Kumar/HT)

Earlier, these people belonging to 16 tribes from 13 UP districts in traditional attire offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple and visited the Kashi Vishwanath Dham under the banner of Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM), U.P., an organisation working for the cause of tribals.

The tribals also performed their traditional dance in Kashi Vishwanath Dham. There, they submitted a copy of their demand to KV temple’s chief executive officer Sunil Kumar Verma and temple trust chairman Prof Nagendra Pandey. Later, they sent the letter to the PM.

“Today, we offered prayers to Baba Kashi Vishwanath and saw the entire Kashi Vishwanath Dham,” said Tekram Kharwar, general secretary, JSM. “We have sent a letter of our demand to PM Narendra Modi from Kashi since he is the parliamentarian from here and also the protector of Sanatana Dharma tradition. The people who have converted to other religions are infringing on the rights of tribal community people,” Kharwar added.

“We tribals, including forest and hill dwellers, follow the Sanatana Dharma. We hope that PM Modi will listen to our demand,” he said. One Rajkumar Vanvasi, who lives in a remote area of Ghazipur district, expressed joy after offering prayers at KV temple.

Ramvichar Tekam, convenor of the event, said, “Sanatani tribals can’t see silently that the people who left the Sanatana Dharma and converted to other religions are still taking advantage of ST reservation. They should be expelled from the ST list so that Sanatani people can get justice