INDIA, October 13, 2016 (Center for Policy Studies by Dr. JK Bajaj): The thirtieth note posted on the Religion Data of Census 2011 concerns the religious demography of the different Scheduled Tribe communities of Meghalaya. Meghalaya has now become a Christian tribal State. More than 86 percent of the total population of the State is from the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and among the STs more than 84 percent are now Christian. The process of conversion of the Scheduled Tribes of Meghalaya that began in the early decades of the twentieth century and picked up pace after Independence is not yet complete. Therefore, the share of Christians in the ST population has been rising from decade to decade. In the last two decades, their share has risen from 75.3 to 84.4 percent, marking an accretion of 9 percentage points.
The rise of Christianity in Meghalaya, at least during the recent decades, has been mainly at the cost of the followers of the so-called Other Religions and Persuasions (ORPs). Because of this, the richly diverse religious practices of the people–like Songsarek of the Garo or Niamtre of the Khasi–which had survived for uncounted centuries under the benignly protective umbrella of Hinduism, are now about to disappear. This is a great cultural, religious and civilizational tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes in the present times that are supposedly be much more tolerant and supportive of diversity both in nature and in society.