Giving in to the protest by the Jain community over designating their main shrine Sammed Shikharji Tirth in Jharkhand as an eco tourism destination, the Central Government on Thursday ordered for stopping all similar efforts in the greater Parasnath Hills where the temple is located.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has called for withdrawal of the notification declaring the site as “eco-tourism zone” which was issued in 2019 by the then BJP Government.
Earlier in the morning, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote to the Centre to seek “appropriate decisions” on its 2019 notification. Soren wrote that the State’s 2021 tourism policy — it is also being opposed by the community — is for forming a management board that can better manage the shrine.
Following opposition from the community, the Centre has also instructed the State Government to take harsh action against forbidden behaviours like drinking alcohol or “defiling of locations of religious and cultural value” or ecological harm.
Jain community leaders have been expressing reservation against the notification, fearing that designating the place as a tourist destination may “hurt its sanctity”. Sammed Shikharji in Parasnath Hills in Giridih district, home to the highest peak in the
State some 160 km from Ranchi, is among the holiest places of the Jains, including for both Digambaras and Shwetambars sects, as 20 of the 24 Jain tirthankaras attained “moksha” (salvation) in this location.
Three days ago hundreds of Jains gathered at India Gate here, protesting the decision to designate the shrine as an eco tourism destination. They submitted a memorandum in this regard to President Draupadi Murmu and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Jharkhand’s Tourism Secretary in a letter, written a few days ago, had intimated the Centre that as per the notification, a board is being set up to better manage the shrine following its declaration as a tourism site. The Board will have six non-government members who are being chosen from the Jain community, the letter said, adding that the community’s opposition was to declaring Parasnath Hills, where the shrine is located, as an “eco tourism” area.
The letter to the Union Environment Ministry came days after the Ministry wrote to the State asking it to “recommend necessary modifications for further needful action”.