NEW DELHI (Indian Catholic News) — India’s largest Catholic lay organization has criticized Maharashtra’s review of tribal benefits linked to religious conversion, urging authorities to uphold constitutional equality and protect indigenous rights.
In a July 19 statement, the All India Catholic Union (AICU) said the Maharashtra government’s decision to constitute a panel reviewing Scheduled Tribe benefits “in relation to religious conversion” appeared to follow political messaging that could revisit tribal rights “through a religious prism.”
Scheduled Tribes, Indigenous communities recognized under India’s Constitution are eligible for affirmative action and other legal protections.
The organization said the move raises “apprehensions about the future of constitutionally guaranteed protections for Adivasi communities.”
According to AICU, there has been “a sustained effort by groups aligned with the RSS-BJP ideological framework to create divisions within Adivasi society.”
It said those efforts seek “to fragment tribal communities along religious lines” among followers of traditional Sarna or nature-based belief systems, those identifying as Hindus and Christians.
The statement said Christian Adivasis or Indigenous tribal peoples, have “historically benefited from access to education, healthcare, and social services established by church-run institutions in some of India’s most remote and underserved areas.”
Warning against repeating historical injustice
The organization also expressed concern over what it described as increasing pressure on educated Christian Adivasis advocating for constitutional rights over “jal, jangal, and jameen” — water, forests and land.
It said their advocacy has “often challenged the unchecked exploitation of natural resources by contractors, political interests, and corporate entities, frequently without equitable benefit to indigenous populations.”
AICU added that “the life, work, and custodial death of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy remain emblematic of this ongoing struggle for justice and dignity.” Father Swamy, known for his advocacy for Adivasi rights, died in custody in 2021 while awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges under India’s anti-terror law.
The statement argued that India has already experienced “the divisive consequences of linking constitutional safeguards to religion” through the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which restricted Scheduled Caste status to Hindus before later extending eligibility to Sikhs and Buddhists but not Christians.
It said the policy excluded Dalits, the former “untouchable” communities at the bottom of India’s traditional four-tier caste system, who converted to Christianity or Islam, resulting in “enduring fragmentation and discrimination” within the community.
AICU warned that “any move to introduce similar exclusions within the Scheduled Tribe framework risks replicating this historical injustice among Adivasis.”
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) are officially recognized groups in India who have historically faced social exclusion and disadvantage, and are granted constitutional protections, affirmative action, and welfare measures to promote equality and justice.
AICU National President Elias Vaz called on authorities to “uphold the constitutional spirit of equality and non-discrimination, resist policies that divide indigenous communities on religious grounds, and ensure that tribal welfare remains guided by justice, inclusion, and the protection of fundamental rights rather than ideological considerations.”
Founded in 1919, AICU describes itself as Asia’s largest association of Catholic laity, with a mandate to represent, empower and amplify the voice of the Catholic laity in India.
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