"Genuine demand": Bharat Adivasi Party leader Rajkumar Roat advocates demand for separate 'Bhil' state for tribes

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], June 11 (ANI): Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) leader Rajkumar Roat, who recently won the Banswara Lok Sabha constituency, advocated for a separate 'Bhil' state for tribes, calling it a genuine demand.
'Bhils' are listed as tribal people in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The Bhils are considered one of the oldest tribes in India.
"It's a genuine demand and to understand this, we have to go back in history and get into details, like when this demand was raised and why it was raised. This demand was raised during the pre-independence era and after independence as well; it's been raised by several leaders. A historic agitation of Govindgiri Banjara happened during the pre-independence era, in which 1,500 tribes were killed. Under British rule, tribal groups demanded a separate Bhil region," Rajkumar Roat told ANI.
Meanwhile, the BAP leader also claimed that the tribals are "not Hindus" and that the Hindu Marriage Act is also not applicable to the tribal community.
However, Roat also admitted that many of the tribals follow Hinduism.
"Tribals are not Hindus, tribals do not belong to any religion, Hindu Marriage Act also does not apply to tribals. Many tribals follow Hinduism but BJP's Hindutva in last 10 years has harmed this religion as well," Rajkumar Roat told ANI.
Rajkumar Roat defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya by a margin of 2,47,054 votes in Banswara in the Lok Sabha elections.
The BAP leader further acknowledged that his party got support from the INDIA bloc, but also clarified that "BAP will not be a part of INDIA alliance in parliament and will remain independent."
Referring to the cases of religious conversions taking place in the region, Roat said they are against these incidents.
"In tribal-dominated areas, not religious conversion but religious adoption is going on, a large number of people are adopting Christianity, which we are against and I have opposed this in my assembly speeches as well," the BAP leader further said.
Bharat Adivasi Party was formed just ahead of the last assembly elections in Rajasthan last year. It won three seats in the state elections. The party has marked its presence in the state by winning the Lok Sabha seat of Banswara as well as the by-elections on the Bagidora assembly seat. (ANI)