Out Of Vanvas?

If the BJP-led NDA government's document had spoken of working towards "assimilation" of the tribal population—part of its Hindutva project—"integration" is the UPA's politically correct substitute. Here's Union tribal affairs minister P.R. Kyndiah's take: "Tribals don't want to be assimilated. They must be allowed to grow according to their native genius and talent. The Congress believes in their economic integration, not their social or cultural assimilation."

Indeed, if the BJP line is that tribals are a part of Hindu society, with former mos for environment Dilip Singh Judeo and the rss affiliates—the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad—organising "homecomings" of Christian tribals at mass reconversion ceremonies, Kyndiah, a tribal from Meghalaya, is clear that his ministry will not try to woo tribals to Hinduism. "Whether in the Northeast or in the mainland, the tribals have their own indigenous religions, their own faith, own gods and goddesses, own style of worship, which is different from Hinduism," he says