The Institute of Jainology for past 15 years plus and then OneJAIN has been working tirelessly to get the Jain faith recognised and included in the UK Census form and be offered as a choice for those completing the forms. Now the matter has come to a climax.
Jain All Party Parliamentary Group was formed in 2016 and since then OneJAIN has made several representations to the Government Ministries to give Jains a fair representation in all State affairs where faiths are involved. A Jain Manifesto was published prior to the last General Election. This manifesto was accepted by all the major political parties in the UK.
The other major point of contention was the inclusion of Jain tick box in the Census form. The Institute is delighted to announce that Jain APPG Chair, and Harrow West MP, the Hon Gareth Thomas MP has secured a debate in the British House of Commons titled ‘The Contribution of the Jain Community in the UK’ on the 24th of April 2019 between 4pm and 4:30pm.
This is indeed a historic and proud moment for the Jain community.
We would be grateful if you can circulate this news to your community and encourage all to sign our Census petition which will be discussed at the debate. A target of 5000 signatures on the petition has been set which is not a big number if all Jains and their supporters were to sign the petition.
The debate will be live via https://www.parliamentlive.tv/
A copy of the debate video on this website and notification with details in due course.