A Few Of Our Own

The SC may have recently turned down a petition seeking minority community status for the Jain community but in MP, they are still officially categorised as such. Going by official figures, the state’s Jain population is 5.45 lakh—a little less than one per cent of the total population. Christians and Sikhs, who constitute 0.3 per cent each, are also recognised as "minorities" by the government. CM Babulal Gaur and the state BJP have hailed the SC order. The Congress take: the BJP is miffed because minority community status places the Jains outside the Hindu fold.