Guwahati: The Bodo Christian Council and All Assam Tribal Christian Council have barred converted Tribal Christian people in the state from registering their original faith in the upcoming national census.
Addressing a press briefing, Rev Sushil Daimari, secretary of AATBC, said that the Bodo people converted to Christianity shouldn’t mention their original faith Bathouis in the coming census. Warning the Tribal Christians to mention themself as Christian, Daimary warned that it would violate the orders of the Bible and Lord Jesus Christ and would be considered as denial of God. Daimary went one step ahead and said, “Jesus said in the Bible, the person who denies me on earth, I will too deny him in front of my father in heaven”.
He warned the Tribal Christians that it would also violate Section 318 of BNS and Section 415 of IPC. Moreover, it will bring grave danger to the Christian population of the state, Daimari added.
On the other hand, the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has urged tribal communities across the state to accurately mention their native languages and religious faiths in the upcoming 2027 Census. CCTOA chief coordinator Aditya Khaklary recently said this Census would hold major significance for the political, social and constitutional rights of Assam’s indigenous population. “All Tribal communities should register their original faiths and language in the upcoming census so that the significance of the indigenous people gets recorded in the official data of the government of India”, Khakhlary said.
He appealed to all tribal citizens to make sure their ethnic identity, mother tongue and faith are correctly recorded during the enumeration process. Khaklary also renewed the committee’s long-standing demand for granting constitutional status to the Mising, Tiwa and Rabha Autonomous Councils, and called for the immediate appointment of a mediator to take the process forward.
After the appeal of the CCTOA, Christian organisations sense a threat of a reduction in numbers in the upcoming census. According to various tribal organisations who are patronising their original faiths, hundreds of tribal families converted to Christianity due to various reasons in the past now wanted to return to their original faiths. In several districts of Assam like Karbi Anglong, Morigaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar numbers of tribal families have returned to their original faiths. This has frightened the missioneries. As a result the Christian councils in Assam have barred the tribal people from mentioning Bathouism or their original faiths in the coming census.
