Indian Jews approach government for minority status

New Delhi, April 12: The Indian Jewish community has reiterated its demand for recognition as a minority community in the country. The community has moved an application with the union minority affairs ministry to this effect, official sources said.

"We have received a request from the Jewish community to be notified as a minority community. We have forwarded their request to the concerned department," an official told IANS.

Currently, there are around 5,000 Jews who are Indian nationals, living in various parts of the country. The majority -- around 4,000 -- live in and around Mumbai.

At present, there are six notified minority communities in India, namely the Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains.

"Jews have been part of the Indian society for 2,300 years now. But post Independence, we have not been recognised as a minority," Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, the head of the Jewish community in Delhi, told IANS.

"If we get the official recognition as a minority community, a lot of things would become easier for us. For example, it would become easier for us to register our marriages, which are currently registered under special categories," he said.

"We would also be able to set up our own educational institutes and practise and promote our culture," Malekar said.

IANS