On January 1 in New Delhi, a Jain group delivered a letter to the President in protest of the Jharkhand government’s plan to designate Shri Sammed Shikharji as a tourism destination. According to the community, the large-scale demonstration in the capital was also in response to Gujarat’s Palitana temple being vandalized.
The neighborhood had gathered at Pragati Maidan, where a large-scale protest was held before the community marched to the Presidential residence. The protesters think that the Jharkhand government’s choice would jeopardize the historic holy sites of the Jain community.
Sammed Shikharji In Jharkhand
The Jain community objected to the Jharkhand government’s decision to develop Parasnath Parvat and Tirtharaj Sammed Shikharji as eco-tourism destinations.
The largest Jain pilgrimage is Sammed Shikharji, which is situated on the Parasnath Hills in the Giridih district of Jharkhand. The Hemant Soren government’s decision to promote religious tourism at Parasnath Hills has been met with protests from local residents.
According to the news agency PTI, the union environment ministry wrote to the Jharkhand government last week requesting that it give priority consideration to the suggestions made by the Jain community regarding changing the notification of the eco-sensitive zone surrounding the Parasnath Sanctuary to exclude eco-tourism activities.
Palitana Temple Row
Considering Palitana in Gujarat to be a sacred location, at least 50,000 members of the Jain community in Mumbai participated in a demonstration calling for a ban on illegal mining and the sale of illicit alcohol there.
The community even went as far as to petition the Supreme Court and the High Court, where the judges ruled that the community’s feelings shouldn’t be damaged.
Similar demonstrations against the Jharkhand government’s proposal to convert Sammed Shikharji, a Jain pilgrimage site, into an eco-tourism destination, were conducted earlier this month in the state capital of Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal.
News Mania Desk
