The Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), stated on Wednesday that the World Indigenous People's Day, observed annually on August 9, holds no relevance for India. According to the organization's president, Satyendra Singh, all Indians, including tribals, are indigenous to the country.
In a statement, Singh clarified that the United Nations' declaration to observe August 9 as World Indigenous People's Day was aimed at providing rights and self-respect to "struggling" indigenous people in other continents and countries, such as America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
"So far as Bharat is concerned, this day has either no relevance or no direct connection as all people of our country are indigenous to this land and we are now free from the clutches of colonial forces," Singh remarked.
He emphasized that India signed the UN declaration in 2007, making it clear that "all Bharatvasis (Indians) are indigenous people of India." He contrasted this with continents and countries like America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, where "colonial forces are still in power" and did not sign the declaration.
"When we talk about indigenous people, Kalyan Ashram emphatically believes that all people of Bharat are indigenous people. We believe that the janjati (tribal) communities are part and parcel of our Sanatan society," Singh stated. He further added, "Though there are diversities in their lifestyle, language, dress, traditional practices, our cultural outlook of all Sanatan society is one and the same."
Singh also accused "some external forces" and Christian missionaries in India of "hatching up a large-scale conspiracy to divide the society in the name of Indigenous People's Day." He expressed concern that some organizations working among tribal communities have begun observing the day as 'Adivasi Diwas', which he claimed is leading to a sense of separatism among the youth.
"Unfortunately, some organisations working among janjati (tribal) communities have also started observing the day as 'Adivasi Diwas'. Youths are being motivated against the true spirit of the day and a sense of separatism is getting rooted among them," Singh concluded.
