HOME OFFICE CONSULTATION ON VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR POOJARIES

Early day motion 871, tabled 26 October 2005 by Baroness Teather (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 25 members.

That this House notes that the Home Office closed its consultation on 31st May into the new immigration rules for ministers of religion; further notes that these rules introduced in August 2004 required such ministers to demonstrate fluency in the English language to level 4; further notes the widespread concern of Hindu organisations about the impact of these regulations on recruitment of Poojaries whose roles are highly specialised and who are trained in India; further notes that the role of a Poojari is to perform the daily rites for the Hindu gods in the temple and Arti, which involve caring for the gods on a daily basis with prayers and meditation; further notes that these daily rites are central to the Hindu religion; further notes that the role of a Poojari does not involve preaching to the congregation and that this role is generally performed by Swarmis, Sadhus or Hindu preachers, who have knowledge of English; further notes that the Poojari's job requires knowledge of Hindu texts written in Sanskrit and knowledge of Gujarati and Hindi for sung worship, but not English; urges the Home Secretary in responding to the consultation into these regulations as quickly as possible given the difficulty experienced by many Hindu temples; and calls on the Home Office, in responding to the consultation, to amend the immigration rules to provide an exemption for Poojaries because they do not preach.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 17, Labour 7, Conservative 1.