Adivasis are not Hindus - Munda
MANGALORE Feb 12: Calling for more academic research into primal
religions in the country, Padma Shri award winner and former
Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University Ramdayal Munda has said that the
Adivasis in India have been wrongly categorised as Hindus for the sake
of administrative convenience.
Adivasis are followers of Adi-Dharam not Hindiusm, Mr. Munda said,
while delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of a
three-day seminar on Spirituality of primal religions, organised by
the Mangalore Diocesan Chair in Christianity on Thursday.
Mr. Munda said that there were only six officially recognised
religious classifications in the country, namely Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism and a grouping of small but organised
religions termed Others.
Of the over 10 crore Adivasis in the country, 90 per cent had been
placed within the Hindu fold and the rest had embraced Islam,
Christianity and Buddhism. Stating that ancient Adivasi practices had
nothing in common with the Vedic traditions of Hinduism, he said that
Adivasis had been reluctantly accommodated at the bottom of the Hindu
fold.
Ulterior motive
Despite the reluctance, the Adivasis were accommodated within Hinduism
with the ulterior motive of forming a formidable political grouping in
pursuit of cultural nationalism, he said.
He was equally critical of the other organised religions such as
Christianity and Islam, which admitted Adivasis but kept them
marginalised and diluted their ethnic identity, according to him.
Mr. Munda, who has co-authored a book on Adi Dharam, which is a
compilation of various spiritual practices and beliefs of Adivasis,
said that more efforts should be made to document the orally inherited
cultural traditions of these people in the country.
Such studies across the country would help in scientifically
establishing the already well-known belief that Adi Dharam ran like a
common thread through Adivasi cultures across the country.
Worship of forces of nature, ancestors and deification of local heroes
is central to all Adivasi practices, he said.
Study needed
An academic study into the practices of over 500 Adivasi communities
would also help in restoring the self-respect of the Adivasis, who had
always occupied an amorphous position, somewhere on the fringes of
organised religions. Such studies will help Adivasis notice that they
are the same people. This will have powerful political ramifications
that can lead to the emancipation of the community, he said.
He said that Dalits too should be part of this social, political and
cultural grouping, since their cultural practices too bore close
resemblance to Adivasi traditions.
He was opposed to Ambedkars efforts on converting the Dalits into
Buddhism. Firstly, there is a concerted effort to project the Buddha
as the incarnation of a Hindu god. Secondly, the act of conversion
takes away Adivasi and Dalit pride in their primal spiritual beliefs,
he said.
http://mangalorean. com/news. php?newstype= local&newsid= 168745
MANGALORE Feb 12: Calling for more academic research into primal
religions in the country, Padma Shri award winner and former
Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University Ramdayal Munda has said that the
Adivasis in India have been wrongly categorised as Hindus for the sake
of administrative convenience.
Adivasis are followers of Adi-Dharam not Hindiusm, Mr. Munda said,
while delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of a
three-day seminar on Spirituality of primal religions, organised by
the Mangalore Diocesan Chair in Christianity on Thursday.
Mr. Munda said that there were only six officially recognised
religious classifications in the country, namely Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism and a grouping of small but organised
religions termed Others.
Of the over 10 crore Adivasis in the country, 90 per cent had been
placed within the Hindu fold and the rest had embraced Islam,
Christianity and Buddhism. Stating that ancient Adivasi practices had
nothing in common with the Vedic traditions of Hinduism, he said that
Adivasis had been reluctantly accommodated at the bottom of the Hindu
fold.
Ulterior motive
Despite the reluctance, the Adivasis were accommodated within Hinduism
with the ulterior motive of forming a formidable political grouping in
pursuit of cultural nationalism, he said.
He was equally critical of the other organised religions such as
Christianity and Islam, which admitted Adivasis but kept them
marginalised and diluted their ethnic identity, according to him.
Mr. Munda, who has co-authored a book on Adi Dharam, which is a
compilation of various spiritual practices and beliefs of Adivasis,
said that more efforts should be made to document the orally inherited
cultural traditions of these people in the country.
Such studies across the country would help in scientifically
establishing the already well-known belief that Adi Dharam ran like a
common thread through Adivasi cultures across the country.
Worship of forces of nature, ancestors and deification of local heroes
is central to all Adivasi practices, he said.
Study needed
An academic study into the practices of over 500 Adivasi communities
would also help in restoring the self-respect of the Adivasis, who had
always occupied an amorphous position, somewhere on the fringes of
organised religions. Such studies will help Adivasis notice that they
are the same people. This will have powerful political ramifications
that can lead to the emancipation of the community, he said.
He said that Dalits too should be part of this social, political and
cultural grouping, since their cultural practices too bore close
resemblance to Adivasi traditions.
He was opposed to Ambedkars efforts on converting the Dalits into
Buddhism. Firstly, there is a concerted effort to project the Buddha
as the incarnation of a Hindu god. Secondly, the act of conversion
takes away Adivasi and Dalit pride in their primal spiritual beliefs,
he said.
http://mangalorean. com/news. php?newstype= local&newsid= 168745
