Overview
- The Janjatiya Suraksha Manch (JSM), backed by the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, submitted a memorandum to the prime minister and the president on Friday and said it received an assurance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that “justice will be done.”
- The JSM's three core demands are a clear statutory definition of 'Scheduled Tribe' based on Lokur Committee criteria, amendment or clarification of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and referral of the issue to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) for examination.
- The group argues that tribals who abandon traditional faiths, customs and practices after conversion should lose ST status and cited the 1969 Joint Parliamentary Committee and several Supreme Court rulings to support its position.
- The JSM also called for anti-conversion measures and said state laws like Chhattisgarh’s may be more feasible than a central law, while urging government consultation with local communities over the Great Nicobar project for security and welfare reasons.
- Reports note the JSM’s claim that 1.5–2 crore tribals have converted is not independently verified and any move to delist converts would trigger legal, social and policy disputes over who qualifies for reservations and how welfare for converted individuals would be delivered.