Tribal outfit Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (ASA) announced it will kick off a month-long yatra on Tuesday to “free” the 'Marang Buru' (Parasnath hills) in Jharkhand from the “clutches” of the Jain community .
ASA activists headed by its president and former MP, Salkhan Murmu, will stage demonstrations in tribal-dominated 50 districts in Assam, Bihar, Odisha West Bengal and Jharkhand, a senior ASA functionary said.
"The Marang Buru Bachao Yatra will cover all tribal-dominated districts of the country before ending in the last week of February," the ASA president said.
On January 14, the ASA president wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu appealing to her to restore the sanctity of the place and hand over Parasnath hills to the tribals.
Accusing the Jharkhand government of handing over ‘Marang Buru’ to the Jain community, the former MP said the government has betrayed the tribals.
The ASA will organise a 'Marang Buru-Sarna Mahadharna' besides ‘Rashtriya Adivasi Ekta Mahasabha’ in Ranchi on February 14.
Jains across the country have been demanding the scrapping of a 2019 Jharkhand government notification designating Parasnath hills as a tourist place, fearing this would lead to an influx of tourists who may consume non-vegetarian food and liquor at their holy site.
Even as the Centre stayed the Jharkhand government’s move to promote tourism at the Parasnath hills after protests by Jains, tribals jumped into the fray staking a claim to the land and asking for it to be freed.
The Santhal tribe has a sizeable population in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal and are nature worshippers.
Published - January 17, 2023 05:17 am IST
