The members of the Jain community held a countrywide massive protest on Sunday against the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government’s decision of declaring Sammed Shikharji as a tourist place. Sammed Shikharji, located at Parasnath Hills in Jharkhand is a sacred pilgrimage site for the Jains. Delhi’s India Gate, which draws tourists on January 1, saw a massive protest of the Jain community on Sunday.
Here is all you need to know about the protest:
1. The controversy over Sammed Shikharji has been building up for weeks after the Jharkhand government notified the pilgrimage site as a tourist destination.
2. Jain society in Madhya Pradesh tok to the streets earlier protesting the decision. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath wrote to PM Modi and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren urging him tp reconsider the decision.
3. It is believed that 20 out of 24 Tirthankars (Jain spiritual leaders) attained salvation at Sammed Shikharji.
4. The Vishva Hindu Parishad has issued a statement against the state government’s decision and said the VHP is determined to protect the sanctity of all prilgrimage sites in India.
5. The area should be declared a holy area and there should not be any tourist activity involving meat and drugs, the VHP said in its statement.
6. “The Ministry of Pilgrimage should be set up in Jharkhand soon so that the development of Siddha Kshetra Parshwanath mountain as well as all other pilgrimage sites there should be according to the faith of the followers. Necessary amendments should be made in the related notifications so that Siddha Parshwanath mountain and Tirtharaj Sammed peak can never be developed as tourist areas,” the VHP statement read.
7. On December 16, 2022, a Jain temple in Gujarat was reportedly vandalised. Sunday’s nationwide protest was against that vandalism as well. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi extended support to the protest and said the Jharkhand government must rescind the decision.
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