Members of the Jain community have been staging protests in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and New Delhi for the past two weeks over demands related to two holy sites — Sammed Shikhar on Parasnath hill in Jharkhand and Shetrunjay hill in Palitana of Gujarat.
In Jharkhand, the issue is about Parasnath hill being declared a tourist spot and an eco-sensitive zone, while in Gujarat, the row is over the vandalising of a shrine and related security concerns.
What is the Jharkhand issue?
Parasnath hill is home to Sammed Shikhar, considered among the most important Jain pilgrimage sites, where 20 of the 24 Jain Tirthankars are believed to have attained salvation. In February 2019, the Jharkhand government notified the Parasnath area, in Giridih district, as a ‘tourist spot’, along with temples such as Baidhyanath Dham in Deoghar and Basukinath Dham in Dumka. In August of that year, the Union environment ministry declared the hill an eco-sensitive zone and added that the area had “tremendous potential to support thriving eco-tourism”.
Amid the recent protests, the Giridih district administration said there had been no opposition in the past three years. Deputy Commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra said that even at present, Jharkhand has seen no protests.
Brahmachari Tarun Bhaiyyaji, spokesperson of ‘Shikharji’, said they came to know about the government notifications only recently. “Neither the Centre nor the state consulted the main stakeholder, the people from the Jain community, while declaring the hill an eco-sensitive zone and a tourist spot. We came to know about the notification more than three years later, in December, when someone read about it.”
Bhaiyyaji said they resorted to protests after “informal talks” with several politicians, including Chief Minister Hemant Soren, did not elicit a “concrete response” in the past month.
“A person coming here as a tourist will be looking for fun, which we don’t want. We want the decorum of this place to be maintained. People from any community can visit as long as they follow the processes being practised by us. Declaring the hill as an eco-sensitive zone is also a problem, as locals will be given employment through poultry farms etc., which we don’t want at our holy site,” Bhaiyyaji said.
What has the Jharkhand govt said?
CM Soren had earlier said that he was looking into the matter, and that the notification was issued during the BJP government’s tenure.
The Giridih DC said a meeting with the office bearers of the ‘Shikharji’ took place on December 22, where they were assured the site’s decorum would be maintained. “We have also deployed police personnel in the area to prevent any untoward incident,” he said.
What is the vandalism issue in Gujarat?
This row began in early December when the security manager of Sheth Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi (SAKP), an organisation of the Shwetambar section of Jainism, filed a police complaint that someone had vandalised the Adinath Dada’s Pagla, a marble carving representing the feet of Lord Adinath, the first Jain Tirthankar, on the interveninign night of November 26-27. The pagla is housed in a small shrine in Rohishala village near the Shetrunjay hill, considered holy by the Jains.
What did the police say?
On December 23, the police arrested a Rohishala resident and claimed to have cracked the case. The police said the man had broken into the shrine with the intent to commit theft, but after he found nothing valuable, had struck the Pagla with a stone in “frustration”, damaging the toes.
What is the other case related to Shetrunjay hill?
While the police were investigating the vandalism case, a dispute broke out between Swami Sharnananda, a local Hindu religious figure, and the SAKP over installing CCTV cameras on the premises of Neelkanth Mahadev Temple atop the Shetrunjay hill. Sharnananda claimed that the SKAP could not install CCTV cameras in a Hindu temple.On December 15, poles erected on the temple premises for the CCTV cameras were removed. The SAKP, which has been paying the salary of the Neelkanth Mahadev temple priest, then filed a police complaint.
What do the protesters want?
The Jains are demanding that Shetrunjay hill and the area around it be protected so as to maintain its holiness. They also want further probe in the vandalism case.
Abhay Shah, spokesperson of Shetrunjay Mahatirth Raksha Samiti, said, “The police claims to have solved the vandalism case, saying the motive was theft, but it does not seem convincing to us. Why would one damage only the feet (of the idol) in frustration? We demand the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.”
According to Shah, they are also seeking action to check illegal mining and land grabbing around the Shetrunjay hill.
