Indian Census shall now recognize ‘Bathouism’ officially

Guwahati, February 6, 2019:

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Biswajit Daimary requested the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India to recognize the Bathou religion officially viz a viz Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, etc. The Bathou Traditional and Cultural Centre, Kokrajhar and All Bathou Mahasabha of Assam have requested to recognize the Bathou religion (wrongly interpreted in the census as Bathau/Batheu) through their memorandums that it be recognized as a distinct religion.

He has stated that when the Constitution was framed, leaders of the country had no idea about the distinct religions and customs of the Bodo community, and as such, they were overlooked. Daimary stated that now that the Bodo language has been listed in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution, the Bathou religion should also be recognized officially.

Daimary further asserted that due to the constitutional and genuine nature of the demands, Bathou should be recognized as an official region by the Indian Constitution. Meanwhile, the Registrar General of India has agreed to allow Bathou believers to register themselves as ‘Bathow’ instead of ‘Hindu’ in the census.

It is to be mentioned that ‘Bathouism’ is an age-old ethnic religion of the Bodo community that predominantly resides in Assam. The name ‘Bathou’ (ba=five, thou=deep) signifies ‘five principles’.