A 72-year-old Jain priest who was on a hunger strike as part of the community’s nationwide protest against a 2019 Jharkhand government notification declaring Parasnath Hills as a tourist place, died in Jaipur on Tuesday, police said.
The deceased Jain priest was identified as Sugyeyasagar Maharaj (72), a resident of Rajasthan’s Banswara district.
“The Jain priest was on fast for the past several days and died on Tuesday,” said station house officer (SHO) Malpura Gate police station, Satish Chand.
According to community members, the priest had taken part in a peace march in Jaipur on Sunday. He was on a hunger strike at Sanghiji temple in Sanganer area of Rajasthan’s capital city.
“A priest passed away fasting, protesting for the cause. The Centre and Jharkhand government are working at a snail’s pace. If it continues, then the public anger will spread,” said Rajasthan Jain Sabha president Subhash Jain.
Members of Jain community across the country have been protesting against the Jharkhand government’s decision to develop Sammed Shikhar, located on the Parasnath Hills in the Giridih district, as an eco-tourist spot. Jains want the Hemant Soren-led government to roll back the gazette notification of the state’s tourism department issued on February 22, 2019, by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Raghubar Das.
Sammed Shikhar is considered as one of the biggest pilgrimage destinations for both sects of Jainism — the Digambaras and the Svetambaras — as it was here that 20 of the 24 Jain tirthankaras (spiritual teacher) attained “moksha” or salvation after meditating.
On August 2, 2019, the Union government notified the area around Parasnath Sanctuary as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ), which allows conditional development work and eco-tourism in the area. On July 24 last year, Hemant Soren unveiled the state’s tourism policy, which underlined developing Parasnath as a religious tourist centre, along with other religious places such as Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar and Rajrappa Temple in Ramgarh district.
With protests erupting across the country in the past two weeks seeking withdrawal of the notification, both the Centre and the Jharkhand government have taken note of it.
On December 23, Chandra Prakash Goyal, the director general and special secretary, Union ministry of forest, environment and climate change, wrote to Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, suggesting the state to have a “re-look” and send fresh recommendations for further action vis-a-vis the ESZ notification of Parasnath Sanctuary.
However, the state government is yet to issue a final order on the issue. Talking to reporters on completion of three years in office on December 28, Hemant Soren said the issue was under consideration.
“I am seized of the matter. But we need to deliberate over it at length as it’s not an issue related to one place, rather it would be a policy decision related to religious centres,” he said. “We will take a decision soon.” In another development, the Gujarat government has decided to form a special task force to investigate the alleged vandalism at one of the Jain shrines around Shatrunjay Hills and issues of illegal mining and sale of illicit liquor at the Jain pilgrim town of Palitana, in the state. Informing about the decision, Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi said: “The government will form a task force for speedy resolution of the issues. A police post will be set up in the area to boost the security”.
(With inputs from Ranchi and Ahmedabad)
