The politics of State is once again going to intensify on the issue of declaring Sammed Shikharji -- Jains pilgrimage spot at the Parasnath Hills in Giridih district as tourist spot with Opposition BJP targeting the JMM/Congress government of misleading people on the issue.
Former Minister and BJP legislator Amar Kumar Bauari taking the lead on Tuesday targeted the Soren government for misleading the people. Bauri said that the Jharkhand government says that the work of declaring Parasnath as a tourist destination has been done during the Raghubar Das government, while the truth is opposite as former government of Raghubar Das has always worked to keep the sanctity of Sammed Shikharji intact.
Bauri said that our government (BJP government) had declared it a pilgrimage site. He had issued the office memorandum under the letter number 1391 of the Department of Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs issued during the tenure of Raghuvar government. In this it was said that Parasnath Sammed Shikharji Parvat has been a world famous holy and worship pilgrimage site for the followers of Jainism for centuries. The government is committed to keep its sanctity intact.
The controversy started after the publication of Jharkhand Gazette (No. 117) released on 17 February 2022 by the Hemant Soren led government. In this, Jharkhand Tourism Policy, 2021 was announced in the resolution of 28 December 2021 of the Department of Tourism, Art, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs. It said that “the state of Jharkhand has immense tourism potential. Here nature has blessed many attractive tourist places. The charming waterfalls, forests, reservoirs and views here attract more and more tourists from the country and abroad. Various tribes in the state, who have different cultures, also increase the potential of rural tourism. From the religious point of view, the major religious tourist places of the state are Baba Baidyanathdham Temple (Deoghar), Parasnath Temple (Giridih), Maa Bhadrakali Temple (Itkhori), Rajrappa Maa Chinnamastika Temple (Ramgarh), Kauleshwari Temple (Chatra), Basukinath Dham (Dumka) in the state increases the possibility of religious tourism. Similarly, there is immense potential for mining tourism, adventure tourism, health tourism etc. in the state.
Bauri said that through this resolution the Hemant government had declared Sammed Shikharji as a religious tourist destination. The whole controversy has started since then. I appeal to the Hemant government that keeping in view the sanctity of Sammed Shikharji, it should be immediately declared as a place of pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday Jain protesters marched to the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi as part of their ongoing agitation against the Jharkhand government’s decision to promote religious tourism at the Parasnath Hills in Giridih district.
The Jains say that 20 of their 24 Tirthankars (saviours and spiritual teachers) had attained Mahanirvana (salvation) on the Parasnath Hills, referred to as Sammed Shikharji.
The community believes that converting the place into a tourist spot would make it difficult to maintain the sanctity of the place or the ban on non-vegetarian food there.
The Jains want the JMM-Congress-RJD government to revoke its decision, announced in July. Jains have demonstrated against the decision in several places in the country, including Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.