New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) The Janjati Suraksha Manch, affiliated to the RSS, demanded on Monday that Scheduled Tribes (ST) reservation benefits be denied to community members converting to another religion.

The Bhopal-based organisation claimed that it had held rallies in support of its demand in 170 tribal-dominated districts in the country and reached out to 550 parliamentarians across party lines seeking their backing for it.

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"Those persons belonging to ST community who opt for religious conversion should not get reservation or other benefits which tribals are entitled for. Their all such benefits should be revoked," a senior functionary of the organisation Sharad Chavan said, claiming that 80 per cent of those who avail ST quota are converts.

On the lines of Article 341 of the Constitution, under which reservation has been given to the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities and which states that the SC status of a person will cease to exist if he or she undertakes religious conversion, there should be similar amendment in Article 342 of the Constitution related to the Scheduled Tribes.

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He further said the ST communities have been living in different parts of the country in smaller and larger groups since time immemorial and claimed that they have been observing the "Sanatan tradition" devoutly.

Once they get converted to Islam and Christianity, they leave their distinct lifestyles, cultures and festivals based on nature. So they leave their identity, therefore could be counted as minority but not tribals, Chavan added.

He said this issue of conversion among tribals was raised by the late Congress leader Kartik Oraon, a former MP from undivided Bihar. He also submitted a memorandum signed by more than 350 MPs to the then Congress government led by Indira Gandhi, Chavan said.

He further said a related bill came up in 1967 and it was referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)