Editing Hindus (section)

=== Disputes ===

In the [[Constitution of India]], the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: [[Hinduism]], [[Jainism]], [[Buddhism]] or [[Sikhism]].<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm India-Constitution:Religious rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007173401/http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm |date=7 October 2011 }} Article 25:''"Explanation II: In sub-Clause (b) of clause (2), the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion"''</ref> This however has been challenged by the Sikhs<ref name="Marty1996">{{cite book|author=Martin E. Marty|title=Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance|url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalismss00mart|url-access=registration|date=1 July 1996|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-50884-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalismss00mart/page/270 270]–271}}</ref><ref name="Fazal2014">{{cite book|author=Tanweer Fazal|title="Nation-state" and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WwtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|date=1 August 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-75179-3|pages=20, 112–114}}</ref> and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus.<ref name="BoyleSheen2013">{{cite book|author1=Kevin Boyle|author2=Juliet Sheen|title=Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxgFWwK8dXwC&pg=PA191|date=7 March 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-72229-7|pages=191–192}}</ref> According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu',<ref name="BoyleSheen2013" /> but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion.<ref name="School Bal Vidya Mandir 2003">para 25, Committee of Management Kanya Junior High School Bal Vidya Mandir, Etah, Uttar Pradesh v. Sachiv, U.P. Basic Shiksha Parishad, Allahabad, U.P. and Ors., Per Dalveer Bhandari J., Civil Appeal No. 9595 of 2003, decided On: 21 August 2006, Supreme Court of India</ref>

The [[Republic of India]] is in the peculiar situation that the [[Supreme Court of India]] has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the [[Constitution of India]], while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As a consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether [[Jainism]] is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006.