Empirical Evidence From Caste Census May Reframe Conversion Conversation, Delisting Debate
The delisting of tribal converts from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) categories has long been a core demand of the RSS-affiliated Vanvasi Kalyan Samiti (VKS)
With the timeline and other administrative details for the caste census now firming up, fresh empirical data on the tribal population is expected to add a new dimension to the ongoing debate around the religious conversion of tribals and the demand for delisting the converts.
The delisting of tribal converts from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) categories has long been a core demand of the Vanvasi Kalyan Samiti (VKS), an RSS-affiliated organisation that works among tribal communities across India.
The VKS has been working among the communities across all tribal-dominated states, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and parts of Odisha. The RSS has also formed an organisation, Janjati Suraksha Manch, to protect the tribals from conversion and to spearhead the delisting movement.
The issue regarding delisting gained renewed attention during the recent Karyakarta Vikas Varg in Nagpur, where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also said that the Sangh has been consistently working on this matter related to 'illegal" religious conversion of the tribal population.
Delisting of 'converts'
Significantly, the growing push for data-backed policies around Scheduled Tribe benefits has now been intersecting with longstanding ideological concerns, potentially setting the stage for a sharper national conversation.
Senior functionaries of Vanvasi Kalyan Samity said that the movement for 'delisting" of the converted tribal population has been continuing for a long time and that the VKS also convinces the converts to return to their religion, which is Sanatan (Hinduism).
'They (tribals) are generally lured to a different religion through several means. Most of the time, the conversion is illegal as they do not inform the authorities, which is legally mandatory. Many of the tribal brothers and sisters return to the Sanatan, realising their mistakes, while some choose not to. We want them to follow the legalities," said a senior functionary.
Historical and ideological standpoint of the RSS
Religious conversion of the tribal population has long been a serious concern for the RSS, seen not merely as a spiritual or religious shift but as a civilisational, cultural, and demographic disruption in the country. Over decades, the Sangh has articulated, through several pieces of literature and other official documents, a consistent and assertive stance against what it terms 'organised, deceitful, and foreign-funded conversion activities", particularly targeting the vulnerable communities in tribal and SC belts.
The Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) of the RSS has passed multiple resolutions talking about this 'threat"—from as early as 1980, warning of missionary-led separatism in Eastern Uttaranchal (northern), to 2015's resolution highlighting a widening population growth rate imbalance.
These are not sporadic outcries but part of a calculated and calibrated ideological framework. The 2004 and 2007 resolutions eventually note the demographic shifts and their long-term implications on national integration, with the 1999 resolution directly accusing the Church of global conspiracies aimed at 'cultural colonisation".
'Aggression' against Indian culture
Sarsanghchalaks, from MS Golwalkar, known as Guruji, to Mohan Bhagwat, have time and again reiterated that conversion, especially through several allurements or coercion, is a form of 'aggression" against Bharatiya Sanskriti (Indian culture). Bhagwat, in his recent speeches at public programmes, has emphasised that 'conversion breaks families, alienates communities, and undermines socio-cultural harmony".
According to RSS documents, ground-level realities support these assertions as they say that states like Odisha (Kandhamal), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and the Northeast have witnessed sociopolitical fractures attributed to aggressive proselytisation.
NFHS data and census trends show the religious demographic shifts in pockets, prompting legal responses. Several states—including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh—have enacted certain forms of anti-conversion laws, aiming to curb forced, illegal, or fraudulent conversions.
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