[Buddha-l] Bill to lump Buddhists & Jains with Hindus

[jkirk]

While this move has occurred only in Gujarat, ruled by a BJP government, 
the exclusiveness of religious identity is now underlined by making
conversion to another religion, as defined (see below), against the law. 
In the past, some Hindutva types were excercised about dalits 
converting allegedly from Hinduism to Buddhism --mostly Ambedkar's 
Buddhist movement.  Now, since Buddhism is considered as a sect 
of Hinduism they might leave the dalits alone. 

How ironic this is, considering that in the time of the Buddha 
when he argued that brahminhood is not based on birth but on action and 
development of moral character and insight, there were no such 
social categories as Hinduism or Buddhism. Ironic too is that, like
most of the major Republican legislation in the USA, this bill is mis-
leadingly titled: in this case the Freedom of Religion Act! (Reminds
me of Bush's Clean Air Act, that allows for ever increasingly dirty air.)
Joanna

Article:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1801236,0008.htm 

Buddhists, Jains clubbed with Hindus
by Rathin Das

Gandhinagar, September 20, 2006

The ruling BJP in Gujarat on Tuesday piloted through the assembly an 
amendment that clubs Jainism and Buddhism with Hinduism. 
Passed by voice vote amid vociferous protests by Congress legislators, the 
amendment also triggered a debate on its validity outside the House.

Introduced in the assembly as an amendment to the anti-conversion 
law - officially called the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003 - 
the bill states that Jainism and Buddhism shall be construed as 
denominations of Hindu religion.

There are around 5.25 lakh Jains - about 1 per cent of the 
population - and around 18,000 Buddhists in the state.

In Delhi, members of the two communities and of minority panels said 
Jainism and Buddhism should not be treated as branches of Hinduism. 
They termed the move arbitrary. Hamid Ansari, chairman of the 
National Commission for Minorities, said: "I think legislators 
cannot, and should not, decide the religious identity of a community 
this way. This decision has to be taken by the community itself in a 
democratic manner."

Udit Raj, a Buddhist and chairman of the All-India Confederation of 
SC/ST Organisations, said, "It is an arbitrary move. The entire 
Buddhist community opposes it. We can never be termed Hindus. There 
will be protests from Ahmedabad to Delhi and we will also convey our 
displeasure to the prime minister."

Chakresh Jain, president of the Delhi Jain Samaj, said the community 
would plan protests across the nation. "The move is absolutely 
against the wishes of the Jain community. We are not Hindus at all."

The amendment bill also defines `conversion' - which the anti-
conversion law prohibits without prior permission from district 
authorities. It says if a person belonging to a particular sect 
adopts another sect of the same religion, it will not be considered 
conversion.

Changes within a religion -- like a Shia becoming a Sunni or a 
Catholic becoming a Protestant -- are allowed. Such changes will 
also be allowed to Jains, Buddhists and Hindus.

But renouncing one religion to adopt another will be considered 
conversion. ...............................