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In India, Tribals Protest Ban On Religious Hunting Ritual

By Howard M. Friedman

a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081220/jsp/jharkhand/story_10278535.jsp"Today's Calcutta Telegraph/a, following up on an a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081127/jsp/jharkhand/story_10170820.jsp"article/a published last month, reports on the problems that followers of the tribal Sarna religion in India are having in carrying out one of their key rituals-- the emSendra./em In the Indian state of a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jharkhand"Jharkhand/a, the Jharkhand Raksha Sangh is trying to revive the emSendra/em-- a ritual that involves fasting and then hunting animals. However the Jharkhand Forest Department is banning followers from hunting in the Dalma region, which includes a large a href="http://www.india9.com/i9show/Dalma-Wildlife-Sanctuary-15682.htm"wildife sanctuary/a. Apparently the ban relies on Section 144 of the a href="http://mynation.net/ccp1.htm"Indian Code of Criminal Procedure/a (orders to prohibit apprehended danger). Friday, supporters held a protest in front of the a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Singhbhum"East Singhbhum /adeputy commissioner's office. Jharkhand Raksha Sangh leaders have submitted a memorandum to the President of India claiming that the restriction violates their rights to freedom of conscience and religion protected by Art. 25(1) of the a href="http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf"Indian Constitution/a. They say they will file a lawsuit in India's Supreme Court if the district administration does not permit them to practice their traditional rites.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 20, 2008 (boomark / email).