Jamshedpur: Rail services and vehicular movement were disrupted at some places in Jharkhand Saturday, owing to a “symbolic Bharat bandh” call given by a tribal organisation in support of its long-standing demand for recognition of Sarna religion, officials said.
Among the affected rail networks were the Chakradharpur and Adra divisions of South Eastern Railway (SER), they said.
Trains, including the Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express, were detained at Purulia for over an hour as supporters of the ‘Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan’ (ASA) put up blockades on the Kantadih-Tatanagar line under Adra division, a railway official said.
The train was later diverted to continue its onward journey via the Purulia-Kotshila-Muri-Chandil-Tatanagar route, he said.
The Hatia-Kharagpur Express was cancelled for the day, while the Ranchi-Howrah Express and Hatia-Tatanagar Express were diverted via Muri-Chandil-Tatanagar.
Around 100 protesters also squatted on the tracks at Bahalda Road between Adityapur-Gamariah and Maluka-Dangaoposi stations under the Chakradharpur division, the official said.
The agitation was withdrawn around 12.20 pm in Adra and Chakradharpur divisions and train services normalised, a release issued by the Railways said.
The bandh supporters also put up blockades at various places on Tata-Hata Road in Karandih, Rola Chowk, Birsa Chowk, Seraikela as well as in Byhatu chowk on the Chaibasa-Ranchi Road, the officials said.
ASA president Salkhan Murmu claimed that the bandh evoked “good response not only in Jharkhand but also in other parts of Eastern India including West Bengal and Odisha”.
Murmu, a former parliamentarian, said tribals were left with no other option but to give a bandh call, “as our repeated pleas for recognition of Sarnaism fell on deaf ears”.
“The Sarna religion code is the identity of 15 crore adivasis of the country, as the tribals worship only nature,” he said, adding, the outfit would intensify the agitation “if our legitimate demand was not met”.
Sarna is the indigenous religious faith of tribal communities, who predominantly worship natural elements such as mountains, forests and wildlife. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has suggested that Sarna religion be accorded independent category in the religion code of the census.
Murmu had earlier claimed that around 50 lakh tribals enlisted their faith as ‘Sarna’ in the 2011 Census compared to 44 lakh for Jainism. “However, Jainism has been accorded a separate religion status, but Sarnaism has been deprived of it till date,” he had said.
In November 2020, the Jharkhand Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution advocating the recognition of Sarna as a distinct religion in the census.
Meanwhile, commenting on the Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan’s move, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said people will face a lot of inconvenience if such disruptions continue.
“The demand for Sarna religion should have been raised at an appropriate forum instead of harassing common people in this manner,” Munda said.
PTI