Dharwad: Hurt with the recent Rajasthan High Court ruling equating banned 'Santhara' - a centuries-old religious belief of Jains – with suicide, the members of Jain community will on Monday take out a peace rally in the city.
According to reports, the Jain community members will take out similar peace rallies across the country today to protest against the high court ruling.
Thousands of members of the Jain community will take part in the rally, sporting black ribbons on their shoulders, and will submit a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, addressed to the Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
All commercial establishments, factories and educational institutions run by members of the community will be shut for the day.
Rajeev Doddannavar, president of Belagavi Jain Samaj, and secretary Rajendra Jain told reporters that Santhara is a religious belief and according to Jainism, it's a way to achieve moksha.
Santhara is taken voluntarily with the permission of members of the family and the community, they added. Equating the practice with suicide is unfortunate as the latter is often done in secret by a person frustrated with life, they said.
The Rajasthan HC issued its ban order after it took up a public interest litigation filed by human rights activist and lawyer Nikhil Soni and his lawyer, Madhav Mishra, which claimed that Santhara is illegal.
