New Delhi: After an initial uproar, the Jain community’s agitation against the Parasnath Hills in Jharkhand being turned into a tourist spot has mellowed down. Adivasi residents of the area have, meanwhile, noted that the entire range had been worshipped by them for years.
Two days ago, the Union government announced that it would stay all tourism activities at the ‘Sammed Shikharji’ site which is considered sacred by Jains.
2019 notification by BJP government
As the protests were being posited as outrage against the Jharkhand government’s move to promote the place as a religious tourism spot, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led state government made public the February 2019 notification issued by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led Raghubar Das government to turn the hills into a tourist spot.
In August 2019, the Union environment ministry had notified an eco-sensitive zone around the Parasnath Sanctuary and approved eco-tourism activities in pursuance of the proposal submitted by the then state government, PTI has reported.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya alleged that the decision to turn the holy hills into a tourist hub was BJP’s doing, and not the Hemant Soren government’s.
Speaking with The Wire, Ranchi-based senior journalist Santosh Kiro said that the current controversy erupted when a few chicken bones were found near the temple. He said since Parasnath hills was also a picnic spot, frequented during the New Year celebrations, some tourists may have thrown food waste in the hills.
Adivasi worship
However, he added that the Jain temple is a part of the Parasnath hill range in Giridih region, and only one hillock was regarded as a Jain shrine, while many other such hills were worshipped by the Santhal Adivasis as Marang Burru or god.
A former MP Salkhan Murmu said, “The hills have been worshipped by the Santhals for many many years. There are Santhal temples in the hills where annual fairs are organised annually. They will never think of desecrating the hills.”
He also said that a single community cannot claim the whole hill range as its own, and that the hills were shared heritage. He said that the Santhals suspected that the agitation by Jains was a way to strip the Adivasis of their right over the hills.
Some Adivasi bodies have planned a protest on January 10, asking for the land to be freed from singular dominance of Jain worshippers.
‘Jains versus Adivasis’ politics
As the 2019 notification went public, BJP leaders who supported the Jain agitation against the Soren government have been silent.
A JMM leader who spoke with The Wire on the condition of anonymity said that the BJP initially fuelled the agitation to allegedly drive a communal wedge between Adivasis and Jains, but it was prevented because of the timely intervention of the Soren government.
Speaking at a press briefing, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “We would like to request the Jain community members to identify the real culprits, the BJP, behind declaring the sacred place as a tourist spot way back in 2019. Instead, we are seeing a narrative being presented in the media, that there are rallies and protests across the country against the Hemant Soren government for trying to belittle the sacred place of the Jain community. We would request the community members against falling into the trap of the BJP government.”
He added that the media only focused on the Jharkhand agitation, even as it ignored the alleged desecration of another holy shrine of Jains in Bhavnagar in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.
“There were protests by the Jain community members in Surat [Gujarat], Mumbai and even Delhi in the New Year. We would demand the Union home minister [Amit Shah] and the Prime Minister issue a statement on the protest. We would also demand the state BJP leaders to come out with an explanation or issue an unconditional apology to the Jain community members for declaring the sacred place as a tourist site,” he said.