Sammed Shikharji Row: Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP; accuses it of violently suppressing peaceful protest by Jains

Sammed Shikharji Row: Last week, the Union Environment Ministry had written to the Jharkhand government asking it to consider on priority the representations received from the Jain community.

Amid the massive protest by the Jain community against the commercialisation of their pilgrim site Sammed Shikharji, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has slammed BJP accusing it of using violent means to suppress the peaceful protest by the Jain community. The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said that he stands with the Jain community in their demand.

"The BJP government's attempt to violently suppress the national non-violent demand raised by the peace-loving Jain community, while protesting against the BJP's conspiracy to pollute their supreme pilgrimage Shri Sammed Shikhar ji in the name of tourism, is condemnable. We are with the just demand of Jain community," said Yadav. 

However, Yadav seems to have missed the plot as it is the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government that declared Shri Sammed Shikharji as a tourist place. The people of the Jain community registered their protest against this decision. In February 2018, the Jharkhand government had recommended the Shri Sammed Shikharji area to be declared eco-sensitive. In 2019, the central government declared it environmentally sensitive zone. Now the Jharkhand government has declared it as a tourist destination. A few days later, a video of a person drinking alcohol in the same area went viral. The Jain community is alleging that now people who do not believe in religion will come here and resort to activities that are prohibited in Jainism. 

Incidentally, last week, the Union Environment Ministry had written to the Jharkhand government asking it to consider on priority the representations received from the Jain community for amending the notification of the eco-sensitive zone around the Parasnath Sanctuary to exclude eco-tourism activities.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Saturday also opposed the Jharkhand government's plan to develop Parasnath Parvat and Tirtharaj Sammed Shikharji in the eastern state as eco-tourism spots and sought protection for the two sites as they are revered by the Jain community.

Sammed Shikharji, located on the Parasnath Hills in the Giridih district of Jharkhand, is the biggest pilgrimage of the Jain community. Members of the community have been protesting against the Hemant Soren government's move to promote religious tourism at Parasnath Hills.

The VHP said that the Union and Jharkhand governments must declare the entire 'Siddha Kshetra Parasnath Parvat' as a holy area and any activity that hurts the Jain community, including consumption of meat or drugs etc, should not be allowed. (With PTI inputs)