I think it would be most appropriate to recall the great Ahmedabad trial at this juncture when the centennial of the Gandhian satyagraha in South Africa is commemorated worldwide. When Mahatma Gandhi entered the Central Hall of the Government Circuit House at Ahmedabad on the 18th of March, 1922 to face a trial on a charge of sedition under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code about two hundred spectators inside the improvised courtroom stood up as a mark of respect to the frail figure in loincloth.

The Gujarat State Assembly while amending its anti-conversion law classified Jains and Buddhists as part of Hinduism. Such a classification is an unwarranted assault on the distinct religious identity recognised by the Indian Constitution itself.

One is tempted at the outset to pay a left-handed compliment to the the Modi government that it has unwittingly done a great service to the cause of Jain religious identity and its minority status by taking this absurd and constitutionally untenable step of including the Jains along with the Buddhists in the Hindu religion.