Gujarat govt to grant minority status to Jews: Rupani

The Gujarat government will grant the status of religious minority to Jews in the state and a notification to this effect will be issued soon, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said today, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the community.

This was revealed by Chief Minister Rupani during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here.

During the 45-minute long meeting, Rupani told Netanyahu that "an in-principle decision has been taken to grant Gujarati Jews the status of religious minority".

A notification to this effect shall be issued soon by the government, he said.

Gujarat has a small Jewish community comprising less than 200 members.

The main stronghold of the Jews in Gujarat has pre-dominantly been Ahmedabad, where Magen Abraham Synagogue is located.

Rupani is on a six-day visit to Israel. It is his first trip abroad as chief minister and comes months after he hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu in Gujarat in January.