Gujarat’s anti-conversion law once sought to classify Jains and Buddhists as Hindus

Evidence

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, makes it mandatory for a person who wants to convert into another religion to seek prior permission from a district magistrate. … An amendment bill to the Act was sent back to the Legislative Assembly by the then Gujarat Governor, Nawal Kishore Sharma, for reconsideration. It was subsequently dropped by the state government. One of the provisions in the amendment bill sought to clarify that Jains and Buddhists were to be construed as denominations of Hinduism. The Governor said that the amendment would be in violation of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 572

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Indian constitutional Article 25 religious freedom cases and to how majoritarian regimes redefine minority religions as Hindu denominations.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: was the dropped 2006 Gujarat amendment parallel to similar moves in other BJP states, and how does this map onto the Hindu-cow-protection nationalism they now follow?