MP CM accuses Congress of trying to divide Hindus
Bhopal: Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Umangh Singhar stirred a major political row when he said that tribals were not Hindus. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav took strong exception to Singhar’s remarks, saying that the latter represented the Congress culture that always tried to divide Hindu society.
Singhar, a veteran tribal leader, made the remarks while addressing a tribal development council meeting at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. “I always maintain that we are tribals, not Hindus. I take pride in my tribal identity. Shabari, a tribal, fed leftovers to Lord Rama,” Singhar, a four-time MLA, who belongs to the Bhil tribe, said.
Singhar said that he did not intend to offend any faith by making such a comment. “But our identity, culture, and heritage must be recognized”, he added.
The Congress leader slammed the BJP and RSS for pursuing the design of assimilating tribals into Hinduism by calling them ‘vanvasi Hindus’. This has weakened the political autonomy of the tribals, he said.
CM Yadav reacted sharply to Singhar’s remarks and said the Congress always worked against Hindus and Hindutva. “This is unfortunate”, Yadav said.
Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president Deepak Baij also maintained Singhar’s line on the issue, saying that “Adivasis are not Hindus.”
Madhya Pradesh unit BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal saw a pattern in the Congress trying to “separate tribals from Hindu society”, launched recently to divide society, under the influence of Left liberals.”
“It was Congress which first brought a law to stop religious conversions in the 1960s. But the Congress is now trying to separate tribals from the Hindu fold under the influence of the Tukde Tukde gang,” Agrawal said. The Congress is trying to separate Lord Rama and his devotee Shabari, he remarked.
