Addressing a Sangh Parivar-organised Janjati Sanskritik Samagam at New Delhi’s Red Fort, which he referred to as a “Janjatiya [Tribal] Mahakumbh”, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (May 24, 2026) assured Scheduled Tribe communities across the country that any form of a Uniform Civil Code that will be implemented in the country will ensure that tribal communities are exempt from its provisions.

“There is a conspiracy underway to send the message that UCC will take away tribal communities’ culture and way of life. At this Mahakumbh here today, as the Home Minister of the Narendra Modi-led government, I am telling you in no uncertain terms that UCC will not apply anywhere in tribal areas and to any tribal person, and it will not encroach upon any tribal rights,” the Home Minister said, citing examples of Uttarakhand and Gujarat, adding that this was a message he wanted to send to all the people in the country trying to “divide” tribal communities.

The event, organised by the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA), affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was billed as a platform to mobilise for the protection of the faith, culture, and traditions of tribal communities across the country. The motto on the stage at the Red Fort grounds read: “Those who leave their religion-culture lose their identity”. While the ABVKA has been working in tribal communities to preserve their culture and resist conversion to Christianity and Islam, the JSM was formed in 2006 to tackle the issue of religious conversions in tribal communities specifically.

From the stage, the top leadership of both organisations called for Constitutional amendments to give the ST classification a religion criterion just like the Scheduled Caste classification, and for amending the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) to ensure that only people who followed the tribal faith and culture are allowed to be members of traditional Gram Sabhas.

Interestingly, this mobilisation by the Sangh Parivar comes at a time when a section of tribal communities across the country is organising for a separate column in the Census 2027 forms for their indigenous tribal religion - Sarnaism, insisting that the distinct form of nature worship that tribal communities practice predated Hinduism and should not be seen as part of it. 

During his address to the crowds, which the ABVKA estimates to be around 1.5 lakh from over 550 tribal communities, Mr. Shah told Ganeshram Bhagat and Satyendra Singh, leaders of the JSM and ABVKA, “The movement you have started for identity, culture, religion is the first after Birsa Munda’s Ulgulan [revolution] to unite the tribals of the country. What I am seeing here today is the Ulgulan of our times. This movement will keep us protected; keep us linked to the land; and keep us linked to our culture. It will unite our religion and strengthen the entire country.”

The event was also meant to mark the 150th birth anniversary year of Jharkhand’s anti-colonial tribal icon Birsa Munda, whose armed resistance to British forces in 1899-1900 came to be known as “Ulgulan” or “The Great Tumult”.

“The Constitution framers gave everyone in this country the right to practice their religion, without influence, force, or temptations from others for conversion. I can say here that the tribal communities’ worship of nature is what links us to Sanatan Dharm. The resolution from today’s Kumbh must be to protect this religion, and that will keep us close to our culture and our nation. Those who want to divide us do not know about the story of Lord Ram and Sabri; they don’t know about Nishad Raj and Lord Ram. This gathering is a message to all of them,” Mr. Shah continued.

During his address, the Home Minister noted how the Bharatiya Janata Party had always prioritised the welfare of tribal communities, citing examples of how a dedicated ministry for tribal welfare, the first tribal President of India, and monumental increases in budgets for tribal development were all seen during the tenure of governments headed by the BJP. He also noted that the most successful model of PESA implementation had been seen in Madhya Pradesh, and other BJP-led governments are also replicating it.

Mr. Shah also made it a point to mention that this messaging can be seen in the election results of the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly, where he said the BJP was able to win on all 16 ST-reserved constituencies. The Home Minister also spoke about how the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had found the way to fix the “Naxal problem” with finality and bring development to regions deprived of it for decades.