The Hindu Forum of Britain has welcomed the Labour Government's proposed legislation against religious hatred, saying though it was "long overdue", the law would extend the current protection against racial discrimination to also cover religious discrimination.
"We are pleased to see the Government taking steps to prohibit incitement to religious hatred, which would cover instances where people stir up hatred of others on the basis of their religious belief," Secretary General of the Forum Ramesh Kallidai said in a statement on Wednesday night.
"We welcome the announcement regarding an Equality Bill, which will extend the current protection against racial discrimination to also cover religious discrimination. This is a long overdue measure", he said.
Kallidai said the Bill would "close a loophole where at the moment members of some religions, such as Jews and Sikhs are protected against incitement to religious hatred, under racial hatred offences, but Hindus, Christians and Muslims are not".
"Hopefully they will get the balance right and ensure that the bill will not be an assault on people's right to simply disapprove of the beliefs, teachings or practices of a religion", he added.
On the proposal for national identity cards, Kallidai said, "We will watch with interest the debate on the introduction of ID cards by 2008".
{{/usCountry}}On the proposal for national identity cards, Kallidai said, "We will watch with interest the debate on the introduction of ID cards by 2008".
{{/usCountry}}He hoped that the concerns raised at a recently concluded consultation of the Forum on the proposed ID programme, including recording and reading of biometric data as well as verification of information held on the National Identity Register, would be addressed.