Sanamahi Laining

IMPHAL, Dec 29 : The South East Asia Cultural Organisation (SEACO) has appealed the Government to recognise and include “Sanamahi Laining” as a religion in the coming census of 2021.
In a statement issued by its secretary general, K Ibochouba Kha Nganba, SEACO said preserving Manipur's culture and identity requires promoting the Sanamahi religion and it should be included in the census for enabling people to identify themselves as its followers.
SEACO would not sit idle if Sanamahi Laining is not included in the census and the Government should take up appropriate steps apart from including the religion in the census to preserve and promote it, said the organisation.
It may be noted that of the total population of India in 2011, 79.80 percent (966.3 million) were Hindus while Muslims accounted for 14.23 percent (172.2 million)  and Christians 2.3 percent (28.7 million) respectively of the total population. Sikhs accounted for 1.72 per cent of the total population (about 1.21 billion). The proportion of Buddhists, Jains and other religions were 0.7 per cent, 0.37 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.
Besides the six major religions, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, census also collects data on other religious faiths and denominations, it added.