On July 11, members of the UK Jain Community, delivered a petition which urged Prime Minister Theresa May for the inclusion of a Jain tick box in the UK Census 2021.
The petition has accummulated 5,000 signatures online and offline and also witnessed London Assembly Member, Navin Shah AM, highlighting the importance of the Jain community. Jains should be “formally recognised” and “duly considered when it comes to public bodies making policy decisions” so their “needs and aspirations” are taken into account, stated Navin Shah.
Those behind the petition argue that the inclusion of the Jain faith on future censuses would ensure that it is more widely considered in decision making processes and will boost its recognition as a key religion in the UK. The petition is promoted by ‘OneJAIN’, the Institute of Jainology and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Jains, and delivered at 10 Downing Street by Chairman of the Institute of Jainology and OneJAIN, Nemu Chandaria.
“There is so much confusion in the census terminology and Jainism is the only major religion not to be included in the next census. The 2011 Census only captured 30% of the known UK Jain population and the current plans from the Office for National Statistics will not significantly improve that,” said Nemu Chandaria.
Chair of the APPG for Jains, Gareth Thomas MP, alongside three other representatives of OneJAIN, Amit Lathia, Jaysukh Mehta and Himamshu Jain were also present.The national census informs policy and funding decisions made by public bodies such as local authorities, central government departments and the NHS.On the current census form, the voluntary ‘What is your religion?’ question contains tick boxes for ‘No religion, Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations), Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh’ and an ‘Other’ option.
The Mahavir Foundation, a Jain charity based in London, have determined the number of Jains in the UK to total between 25,000 to 30,000. However, Gareth Thomas MP has claimed that studies show the figure is likely to be much higher at around 60,000. The 2011 census recorded 20,000 Jains in the UK under the ‘Other’ option.
“The Jain community makes a significant contribution to our local community and to the UK as a whole.Belonging to a religion of major significance, we need to ensure that they are formally recognised in future censuses and duly considered when it comes to public bodies making policy decisions so the needs and aspirations of Jains are taken into account,” said Navin Shah.
