The peaceful, pious, generally inward Jain community has successfully brought the state government of Jharkhand and the Union government to its knees.  They were suddenly up in arms. Literally. Jain religious preachers and followers of Jainism did not take lightly the move by the Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand People’s Party government in Jharkhand to designate the historic Jain pilgrimage centre -Sammed Shikarji, located in the serene environment of the Parasnath hills in Jharkhand as a tourist centre.

After protesting in large numbers across the country, the Jain people gathered in thousands in Mumbai, vowing to ‘fight till their last breath’ and ’till the last drop of blood in their veins’. Men, women, the devout, and the religious chiefs descended onto the streets ruing the fact that during the Christmas celebrations, the youth descended on their pilgrimage centre and sullied the area in the name of “Christmas celebrations.”

Jains are one of the six communities officially designated as minority communities by the government of India, the others being Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsees.

After knocking hard the knuckles of the Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in every conceivable way, there was no way that the majoritarian BJP Union government would not test the waters with the Jains. Their unknown cadres attempted to desecrate the Palatania Temple in Gujarat and the Union government for many days turned their backs on the Jains whose holiest of holy pilgrimage was declared as a pilgrimage centre.

To those unaware, the manner in which Buddhism was pushed out of the sub-continent is not forgotten.

It is comforting that presently, this experiment has backfired due to the massive protests by the Jain community. The Union government has sent an office memorandum to the Jharkhand government asking it to stand down from its purported move.

Earlier on, in 2019, the Union government had declared the Parasnath Hills as an eco-sensitive zone but had left it to the Jharkhand government to frame tourism facilities there.  In 2019, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change declared an area of up to 25 km around the border of Parasnath hill and Topchanchi wildlife sanctuaries in Giridih and Dhanbad districts wildlife sanctuaries, opening the possibility of making the place a tourist centre.

After the vehement protests, the office memorandum issued by the Union government says, “implementation of provisions of clause 3 of the said eco-sensitive zone notification is stayed forthwith, including amongst others all tourism and ecotourism activities.”

It is distressing to note that Sikh and Muslim leaders chose to remain silent on the issue and lost an opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jains in this hour of need. It is very comforting to note that a lone Muslim (listen to him in the video) travelled to Mumbai in solidarity with the Jains.

The World Sikh News and conscientious Sikhs express complete solidarity with the Jain community and hope that the two governments will honour their word. We at WSN will continue to lend a voice to uphold the sanctity and devotion of the Sammed Shikjarji temple in Jharkhand and the Palitana Temple in Gujarat.

The Sikh devout also needs to wake up. Even the blind can see how the ‘beautification’ of the environs of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar has converted it into a tourist centre and how the lackadaisical administration of SGPC and the city are unable to prevent the nefarious activities around the area.

It is a pity that the administrators of the Jagannath Puri Temple in Puri, Orissa took a cue from the Amritsar example, after a state-sponsored visit to the Golden Temple and then indulged in the devastation of centuries-old Mutts of the Hindu faith and that of the Mangu-Mutt -which bore signs of Guru Nanak’s visit there where he recited the Aarti enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.

The Sikh devout daily see the damage such moves can do and there is an urgent need to protest like the Jains to initiate a course correction in and around historical places in Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Delhi and other places.

These experiments with the faiths of minority nationalities and communities can be stopped if all join hands and cry out like the Jains, “Enough is enough.”