File photo of Vikrant Bhuria, national chairman of the Adivasi Congress
| Photo Credit: ANI
Days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised that no form of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will ever be applicable to tribal areas or tribals, the Congress on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) questioned whether he can be trusted when he says this, arguing that this position of the Union government evolved as a result of people opposing the idea of a UCC in the first place.Mr. Shah’s remarks came on Sunday (May 24, 2026) at the Janjatiya Sankritik Samagam in New Delhi, organised by the Sangh Parivar-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad and the Janjati Suraksha Manch, which have a stated objective of stopping the conversion of tribal communities to Christianity and Islam and projecting the indigenous faiths and nature-worshipping cultures of tribal communities as part of the Sanatan Dharma. The event saw the top leadership of both outfits calling for a religion criterion to be added to the Constitution for the ST classification (like for SCs), and amplifying the demand to delist tribal people who had converted to Christianity or Islam.Responding to this, Vikrant Bhuria, national chairman of the Adivasi Congress, on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) said the delisting movement being “pushed by the BJP-RSS” was just a ploy to reduce the population of Scheduled Tribes, thereby providing a justification for eventually reducing the percentage of reservations available to them in public education and employment. Mr. Bhuria also said that the Congress had always supported the demand for adding a column in Census forms for indigenous faiths of tribal communities, the movement for which was picking up pace in Jharkhand as the Census 2027 was underway.“Reservation for Scheduled Tribes was never meant to be based on religion. So, why are the BJP-RSS trying to divide Adivasis on the basis of religion?” Mr. Bhuria asked at a press conference.Referring to the Sunday event at the Red Fort in New Delhi, which was billed as a platform to mobilise for the protection of the faith, culture, and traditions of tribal communities across the country, the Congress leader said, “The BJP has nothing to do with the culture of Adivasi people. All they care about is the land, forests, and resources that they have always had access to. We can see this happening in Great Nicobar, in Odisha, in Chhattisgarh.”Questioning Mr. Shah’s assurance that the UCC would never be allowed to encroach upon tribal rights, Mr. Bhuria said this position of the BJP-led government was itself a response to the opposition to the UCC. “First, they said they want the UCC to apply all over the country. Only after people opposed this in large numbers did the government change its stand. So can we really trust the Home Minister when he says this?” the Congress leader asked. Published - May 26, 2026 07:54 pm IST
