India's Supreme Court Refuses To Order Constitution Amended To Clarify Status of Sikhs

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noreply@blogger.com (Howard Friedman)

India's Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit asking it to order the government to amend India's Constitution to eliminate a provision in Explanation II to Article 25 that says the reference in the Constitution to the power to legislate regarding Hindu religious institutions should be construed to also include Sikh, Jain and Buddhist institutions. Sikhs want it made clear that Sikhism is a separate religion. Calcutta's Telegraph reports ... (Read Full Article)

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On 1/21/10 reformuscirf said:

"India’s constitution defines all followers of Indic faith (i.e. Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Sanatan etc.) as Hindus.

Article 29 and 30 of Indian constitution provides lesser rights, benefits and protection to Hindus vs. non-Hindus paving way for hostile government take-over of Hindu institutes and misappropriation of its assets and income. More-over, Minority institutes also receive government patronage in form of Exemption from 2005 Amendment to the Article 15, 95% grant-in-aid, College Scholarship to pursue higher education etc.

Many organizations feel that Hindu label is a liability. It exposes them to ideologically inspired attacks, places them at a financial disadvantage and paves way for government confiscation. As a result, several entities like Rama-Krishna Mission, Arya Samaj, Sikhs, Jains etc. have filed law-suits and done intense lobbying to declare them self a non-Hindu minority religion. For Instance, in west Bengal, Rama Krishna Mission whose colleges and schools were in danger of hostile take-over by Marxist government petitioned the courts to have their organization and movement declared a non-Hindu minority religion.

So far India’s Supreme Court has rejected Rama Krishna Mission, Arya Samaj, Sikhs and Jain Organizations petitions asking for minority status.

Reference: www.uscirf.blogspot.com section: Error of Omission

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