JAMSHEDPUR, May 31 -- Amid raging debate over home minister Amit Shah addressing tribals as Vanvasi, the former Jharkhand chief minister (CM) Champai Soren has reminded that Mahatma Gandhi used to call the tribals (Adivasis) as 'Girijan.

"Different communities call the tribals by different names in India. Mahatma Gandhi used to call Adivasis as 'Girijan'. Similarly, Vanvasi word is connected to the historical perspective of Bhagwan Ram's vanvas also. Calling by different names does not change the basic identity of any community. The real issue is that the Central Government has kept the tribal communities out of the purview of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to protect and preserve the tribal traditional self-governance systems, customs and...