THE JAIN THRESHOLD

The last few days of 2022 saw the usually reticent Jain community taking to the roads in protest in many cities of north India.

- Jumana Shah

The immediate trigger was two issues-a feeling in the community that the Centre was dilly-dallying on its demand to protect the sanctity of one of the community's holiest pilgrimage spots, Sammedh Shikharji on Parasnath mountain in Giridih district, Jharkhand; and secondly, government inaction over the desecration of the Charan Paduka of Lord Adinath in the Shetrunjay Hills in Palitana town, Bhavnagar, Gujarat in November 2022. Miscreants also broke a CCTV camera installed there later in mid-December.

With the protests heating up, the BJP government at the Centre and in Gujarat moved swiftly to reassure the rich and powerful minority community of their support. For Palitana, the Gujarat government erected a permanent police chowki as well as an eight-member task force to "look into other issues regarding the Jain pilgrimage spot". As regards Sammedh Shikharji, the Centre issued a memorandum to stop all tourism activities in the Parasnath Hills and the wildlife sanctuary area of around 49.3 sq. km. But the Jains are unconvinced and the protests have continued. At least two Jain monks have died since after going on indefinite fasts.