Ranchi, Oct 18 (PTI) Tribal body Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (ASA) on Tuesday staged a dharna in Ranchi demanding Sarna dharma code, a separate religion column for the indigenous people in the census form.The code is a long-standing demand of the tribals who are nature worshipers. They are not Hindus, Muslims or Christians, ASA president Salkhan Murmu said.Inclusion of a separate Sarna code in the census form would help the tribals to be identified as followers of Sarna faith.People of the indigenous community from the five states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and West Bengal participated in the agitation near Morabadi ground here.The ASA claimed that nearly 10,000 people had assembled for the dharna from 12 noon to 3.30 pm.“We have been demanding a distinct Sarna religious code for tribals and have written to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others," Murmu said."We are engaged in the worship of nature in the name of Sarna Dharma. Nature is our sustainer, our God. Our worship, thinking, rituals, festivals, and festivals are inextricably linked with nature. We are not idol worshippers.“We do not even have the concept of the Varna system, heaven-hell, etc. It is also a matter of our existence and identity, " the ASA said in a letter to the President. The ASA demanded that in the census form they be identified as followers of the Sarna Dharma code.The tribals in 250 blocks of 50 districts in Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and West Bengal would be “forced” to resort to ‘chakka jam’ from November 30 if the Centre fails to give reasons for denying the recognition of Sarna code by November 20, Murmu, a former BJP MP, said.“The tribals have been demanding a Sarna code for a long time but their demands have been neglected," he said.The population of tribals in the country is more than Buddhists but their religion is not recognised, Murmu claimed.The Jharkhand unit president of ASA Devnarayan Murmu alleged that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led ruling alliance formed the government with the large backing of the tribal population but failed to work for their welfare.Another tribal leader said when Jainism and Buddism could be recognised as a separate religion why not Sarna? In November 2020, a special Assembly session was convened in Jharkhand to pass a resolution to recognise Sarna religion and include it as a separate code in the 2021 Census.But no decision has been taken by the BJP-led Central government on the issue, the tribal leaders said. PTI NAM MM MM