Raipur, Jun 7 (PTI) Veteran tribal leader from Chhattisgarh and former Union minister Arvind Netam on Saturday said the Congress should clarify its stance on religious conversion.

Netam said he suspects that Chhattisgarh Congress chief Deepak Baij, a tribal leader from the Bastar region, has embraced Christianity.

He was talking to reporters in Raipur, two days after attending the concluding ceremony of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s training camp ‘Karyakarta Vikas Varg-Dwitiya’ in Nagpur as the chief guest. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also attended the event.

Netam, a prominent tribal leader from the state’s Bastar region, had served in the cabinets of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.

He quit the Congress before the 2023 assembly elections and was part of the Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella group of tribal organisations in Chhattisgarh that had then floated a political outfit named Hamar Raj Party.

When asked about Baij’s claim that he was speaking the language of the RSS, Netam said, “I am speaking the language of (tribal) community. I want to ask Baij whether he has converted to Christianity. I suspect this when he speaks such things. I would like to ask what the Congress policy is about religious conversion. The party should clarify it.” The Sangh’s policy on religious conversion is that it is against such practice. The Congress should talk about its stance, he said.

“We talk about tribal society, not Sangh. I have spoken against the ideology of RSS on issues like industrial policy, displacement and environment (during the event in Nagpur). We tried to explain to the Sangh that these are the issues that should be considered for discussion, and a solution should be chalked out by taking everyone into confidence,” he added.

The tribal society in the country has been facing threats over several issues. “Now, the concern is whether they will exist or not,” he said.

“There is little hope that the central and state governments will seriously address our problems. Therefore, we explored who can help us. We felt the RSS is an organisation that delves deep into several issues and works on them. When we got a chance in Nagpur, we discussed several issues with them,” he said.

Netam said this was the first time he attended an RSS event. The ex-Union minister said he was influenced by watching the Sangh’s activities and dedication.

“Commitment towards the country and social harmony are the basis of the philosophy of the Sangh. I have not seen such an organisation in this country which delves deeply into issues like conversion and others,” he said.

Speaking at the RSS programme in Nagpur on Thursday, Netam had made a strong pitch for the protection of the rights of tribals while alleging they were made to bear the burden of progress and that their ‘jal, jungle and jameen’ (water, forest and land) were in danger.

He also raised concerns over coal mining in the Hasdeo forest in Chhattisgarh and alleged violations of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. PTI TKP NR